Say so
by secrethalfblood
Summary: Daughter of Athena Harper Davis and Son of Apollo Ashton Wells have a weird relationship. It might have been different, if he wasn't her brother's best friend. But between the sarcasm and teasing, the two really are friends. But things change when Harper is forced to leave camp on her first mission and he's confronted with choice he never wanted to make, Harper or his best friend.
1. Chapter 1

**ATTENTION READERS!**

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since I posted, life and health issues put a serious halt on my ability to write and then I hit a period of major writer's block for several months. If you're a new reader, welcome! If you're someone who's read some of my previous stories, welcome back! I'll be honest, this story probably will not match even close to my usual posting frenzies seeing as I had almost nothing written out other than a basic idea of where it's going and I'm farther on another story that has priority that will not make it to this site, but I missed writing in this sort of style, and as always, I try to keep people updated if they ask.

So yeah, long story short, I've no idea how this story will turn out posting speed wise but depending on how it all comes together and interest, I'll try not to abandon it completely or put it on hiatus if it does gain active readers.

As always, I hope you like my story. Thanks for reading.

~secrethalfblood

...

"Watch it four eyes." A snide voice said in obvious irritation, and I looked up from my book to see three massive Ares sisters glowering down at me.

"Sorry." I muttered, realizing somewhere in the back of my mind that I must have wandered into their path as my eyes returned to my page.

They didn't respond, not that I expected them to and I continued making my way to breakfast still reading.

I was about ten pages further and about to step into the Dining Pavilion when my way was obstructed once again, however, when the person spoke, they didn't sound annoyed. They sounded amused.

"Put the book down Bambi."

"Ashton, what the hell?" I said angrily as the paperback was plucked out of my hands and I was forced to look up into the attractive, and extremely irritating face of Ashton Wells, son of Apollo, and my brother's best friend, grinning down at me.

"Don't call me that." I continued crossing my arms over my chest and he laughed.

"Lighten up, Harper."

Ashton was tall with the same golden blonde nearly all of campers in Cabin 7 had. It was stylish, medium in length for a guy, and somehow always seemed to catch the light perfectly in any situation. Perks I guess, if your father is the God of the Sun. His eyes were a warm shade of brown and looking at me with obvious entertainment before flitting to the pages.

"What language is this?" he asked curiously, easily keeping the book out of my reach as I tried to jump for it, and turning to look at the cover as if it would answer his question.

"Russian." I said in exasperation jumping again.

"Ah that's right." He said gesturing to the glasses I was readjusting after trying to grab the book. "I forgot those were more than just a fashion statement."

My glasses allowed me to read any language, even ancient ones. They were a gift from my mother when I'd first started coming to Camp Halfblood.

"Why are you reading something in Russian?" he continued curiously looking at me with what looked like genuine interest, but I scowled at him.

"Why would I tell you that?"

"Because you'll talk to anyone about something you're reading." He said, as if this should have been obvious and I felt a surge of annoyance go through me.

He was sort of right, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

"Well, thanks to you, I'm not reading right now am I?" I countered, swiping at the book again with no luck.

"What could possibly be so interesting to you in here?" He asked, tilting it in different angles, like it was an artifact he was appraising.

"Ashton!"

He ignored me, continuing to examine it, but when I grabbed his arm to try and force it down, he laughed, as if he thought the attempt was cute. Then again, maybe to him it was. Ashton had met my brother through sports. He was an athlete and built like one. The idea of me attempting to take something from him by force was sort of laughable.

"You know you're not getting this back until you eat, right?" he asked raising an eyebrow and I glowered at him.

"What are you, my mother?"

"No, and _thank_ _gods_ for that." He said with a slight shudder and I rolled my eyes. "But _someone_ has to make sure you feed yourself. Even if it's not her."

"Whatever." I muttered, but stepping into the pavilion and making my way towards the Athena table, Ashton still clearly amused, one step behind.

"Finally." Charlie, my twin and Ashton's best friend, said in exaggerated tone as I took my place next to him, my arms crossed over my chest and what was probably a sour expression plastered on my face. "What's up with you?"

"What do you think?" I snapped. "Your friend took my book."

It was only our first day back at camp, and already they'd taken to irritating me just like they did back home. Unlike most other halfbloods that were friends through camp, Ashton had transferred to the same high school Charlie and I were set to start the summer after they'd met, which meant I never got a break from their over bearing behavior. I was subjected to not one, but both of them year-round.

"Probably so you would eat." Charlie mused and I let out an exasperated noise.

"I can read and eat at the same time."

At this, he and the rest of my siblings exchanged dubious looks.

"Yes, but it takes you an hour to eat half a sandwich." He said sliding a plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs in front of me then grinning and giving Ashton a fist bump as he walked up behind us. "And breakfast ends in ten minutes."

My brother was almost as tall as his best friend, but that was pretty much where the similarities stopped. We had the same eyes, light green and his hair, while a lot shorter than mine, was the same color as well, a dark mahogany brown, that had gotten lighter towards the ends seeing as he spent a lot of his free time on the basketball court with Ashton and their friends. He was thinner than Ashton too, in both face and frame, and while girls seemed to adore the 'smirking smart ass' expression he usually wore, I didn't really get it. In my opinion, not that it had ever mattered, Ashton was far better looking. Then again, seeing as Charlie was my brother and I'd been stuck with him since day one, I probably had to think that by default. Either way, it wasn't like either of them was lacking for attention from girls around camp, or school for that matter.

"You know, I can make my own plate." I pointed out as I started to cut off a bite of pancake. "Do you guys think I'd starve without you or something?"

"No." Ashton said with a shrug when I looked back at him, but he grinned and Charlie continued, looking smug.

"But we're not going to risk it."

"You guys are morons."

"Hey, you're pretty scattered brained." Charlie said putting his arm around me and pulling me into a crushing side hug. "You forget to do stuff when you get sucked into something, especially books. I gotta look out for my little sis."

"We're twins!" I said in exasperation, trying to extricate myself from his grip and he shrugged.

"I mean, if you want to get technical about it."

"How is that technical?" I asked throwing him a look. "That's literally what we are."

"Well I was born first." Charlie reminded me and I rolled my eyes.

"Ah yes that five minutes really solidified the gap between our maturity levels."

"Six minutes and forty-eight seconds." Both Ashton and Charlie corrected automatically and I glowered at my brother's best friend.

"Don't you have your own siblings to annoy?"

He chuckled.

"But it's so much more fun with you."

"I'm glad I can be of such high entertainment value to you." I said sarcastically and his smile grew.

"Me too."

"Go away Ash."

"Alright cranky." He said amused. "See you Charlie." Then smirked and as if he couldn't help himself added. "Bambi."

"Stop _calling _me that!" I shouted after him and he laughed as he walked away.

"Gods, you and Ashton spend way too much time together." I muttered turning back to the table and continuing to eat my breakfast.

"What makes you say that?" Charlie asked looking genuinely puzzled and I raised an eyebrow.

"He knows _exactly_ how much older you are then me."

"So you admit it." He said his expression going sly. "I am older than you."

"Shut up." I said pushing his head away and he spluttered in shock.

I returned to my food realizing as I looked down that Ashton had left my book. I glanced in the direction of the Apollo table, where he was talking to one of his sisters, well aware that a few of my sisters were also looking at him. I wasn't sure why, but something about it felt exhausting.

I picked up the book and was about to resume from where I'd left off when Sabrina, one of my younger sisters, asked.

"Why does he call you that?"

"Huh?" I asked a little distracted, but glancing at her all the same.

"Ashton," she said tilting her head to the side slightly. She was about eleven with long blonde hair that was pulled into pigtails, and dark blue eyes that were looking at me with intrigue. Though a lot of girls around camp were into Ashton, she seemed to be simply curious.

"It's not worth explaining." I said shaking my head and returning to my book while Charlie chuckled.

"It's not that big of a deal." He said. "I don't see why you're so uptight about it. It's actually kind of cute."

By now we had the entire table's attention and I could feel their eyes on me, but I ignored them so Charlie intervened.

"He calls her Bambi because the day we met, when I introduced them he said she looked so shocked she was like a deer in head lights."

"Gods, you make it sound like I had a crush on him." I said annoyed. "You're misrepresenting the entire situation. He surprised me that's all. I was reading."

"What a shock." Mason, another one of our brother's chimed in. Unlike Sabrina, he was a year younger than Charlie and I, about sixteen, with short black hair and dark brown eyes.

The others laughed as I tried to bring the conversation back on track.

"He just walked up to me and started talking, while I was reading and I didn't think he was talking to me. So I when I realized he was, I was surprised. That's all."

My stomach knotted because it felt like a lie, but I wasn't sure why. I mean it wasn't, right? That's what Ashton had said, where he'd gotten the nickname from, but something about the whole situation had been weird mostly because I'd actually met Ashton before he knew who I was related to. I mean, it wasn't that big of a deal. But we'd definitely talked before Charlie had 'introduced' me to his new friend, and I'd sort thought he might have been into me, and if I was honest, I might have thought I was into him as well, but then in the space of an hour he went from a cute guy on the court to Charlie's new friend and suddenly it was like something had changed. Suddenly, it was like having a second twin brother. Just another person hell bent on embarrassing me as often as possible, and acting like a guard dog that took his job way too seriously. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly thrilled with how things turned out.

"Look it's alright if you had a crush on him Harps." Charlie said lightly, putting his arm around my shoulder again and I raised an eyebrow. "He's a good-looking guy."

"What if he had a crush on me?" I countered and his demeanor changed.

He went stiff.

"Very funny." he muttered, but despite his words, his tone was sarcastic and his smile had vanished.

"What?" I asked feeling a little offended and I noticed the rest of our siblings exchange anxious looks, clearly wondering if a fight was about to break out.

"Look, it's nothing against you Harps." He said automatically, as if what he was saying was a prepared statement and he was just checking the box. "You're pretty and you're smart, but it's against the bro-code."

"The bro-code?" I asked feeling an eyebrow jump back up.

"Yeah, you know. The things all guys know you absolutely cannot do to your fellow man." His tone was matter of fact, this should have been obvious. "You just don't date your friend's sisters. _Especially_ their little sister."

"We're twins!"

"Regardless. The principle still applies."

"You're an idiot."

"Idiot or not, that's just how things are." He said and a few of our older brothers nodded in agreement.

"See?" He Charlie said, gesturing towards them as if this were all the justification needed.

I rolled my eyes.

"Don't you think if a guy liked someone enough, he wouldn't care about the 'bro code'?" I asked putting air quotes around the term, with an inflection that told him how stupid I thought the whole idea was.

"No. It's not how guys do things, especially a guy like Ashton. Besides, aren't you always saying he annoys you all the time? Why does it matter to you if he liked you or not?"

"It doesn't." I said frowning.

I really didn't care what Ashton's initial impression of me was. All I'd wanted to do was defend myself from how Charlie was portraying our first interaction. I wasn't exactly sure how we got here.

"Then why are we talking about this?" He asked breaking my train of thought and I shrugged.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure."

All I knew was that something was off with his impression of how Ashton and I first met, and it felt weird not correcting it. But Charlie was right. Ashton was his best friend, and he wouldn't do anything to mess that up. If Ashton hadn't said anything, it was probably because it just so unimportant that it wasn't a big deal.

"Anyways." Charlie said shaking his head looking as disoriented as I felt, but clearly determined to move the conversation along and I saw the tension around the table dissipate. "What is everyone up to today?"

I tuned out their responses intending to go back to my book for the rest of breakfast when something in the periphery of my vision caught my eye.

I glanced at the exit of the pavilion only to see Ashton talking to a very pretty girl. She had long light brown hair set in perfect waves, sky blue eyes, and was so beautiful, she made the camp shirt most everyone wore here, look like it belonged on the run way.

I recognized her at once. Jasmine Locke, daughter of Aphrodite and Ashton's on again off again girlfriend. They were currently friends, or at least what they called friends, but I figured they'd be back together at some point this summer. It was how it always seemed to happen, especially judging by the way she put a hand on his arm when she laughed at something he said.

"Harper."

"Huh?" I asked turning towards the voice and I saw that the table was empty.

"Breakfast is over." Charlie continued, gesturing towards our siblings that were leaving the pavilion. "Time to go."

"Oh." I said a little surprised.

He glanced in Ashton's direction, clearly wondering what I was looking at.

"What do you think?" I asked standing and grabbing my book, then gesturing towards the pair. "Think that's happening again?"

"Dunno." He said with a shrug. "I think he wants it to, but from what he says, he's not sure she does."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. Judging by the way she was smiling at him as they walked out with the crowd, I would have thought the opposite. "What makes you say that?"

"You'd have to ask him." He said with a shrug. "It's not really our business unless he wants to talk about it."

"Yeah I guess." I said, not entirely sure why I was frowning.

I liked Jasmine, well, I didn't really know her, but she seemed nice enough. Ashton seemed to like her, at least they got along from what I could tell. But Charlie was right. It wasn't my business.

I followed him out of the pavilion and was intending to ask around to see what the alliances for the upcoming capture the flag game were, when I heard a harsh voice.

"Hey! Four eyes!"

I stopped, but this time when I heard the insult, I grinned.

"You going to win me a chariot race or what?"

I turned to see a tall girl built like weight lifter, with broad shoulders, with long black hair and intense dark eyes that were narrowed at me. Tamera Yardley, daughter of Ares, nightmare in the arena and the human equivalent of an armored tank. Next to Tamera, waving excitedly, was another girl, completely dwarfed by her nearly six-foot stature. She was tiny with blonde hair styled into a pixie cut, a fifties style bandana, and hazel eyes that were glittering with excitement. Allison Schults, daughter of Hephaestus. Both were two of my closest friends at camp.

"That depends." I said with a grin. "You going to crash again?"

Allison laughed while Tamera scowled, and I jogged over to the girls.

"Blame your brother and his stupid friend for that." Tamera said sourly. "If he wasn't such a good shot the chariot would have made it. No one but Ashton could have taken out that wheel..."

"Don't worry." Allison said with a smirk. "We can pay him back this summer. I spent the school year cooking up some pretty nasty surprises for your brother and his friend."

She gave me a significant look. Our chariot had been poised to win last summer, but by some miracle, or I guess incredible skill and a little luck, Ashton had managed to hit the chariot's wheel at just the right spot that it took critical damage. The chariot crashed leaving the way open for Ashton and Charlie to take first place.

"Excellent." Tamera said with a wicked grin.

"So Chiron's letting us race this year?" I asked. There had been a couple of nasty injuries last summer, and while no one had died, it was rumored he was going to ban chariot racing again for a while.

"Nothing's official yet," Allison said with a shrug as she shifted her weight and crossed her arms over her chest. "But that's not stopping anyone else from planning."

The mischievous glitter was back in her eyes, her smile positively cat like, and I was sure it was one I was returning.

"Well then, we shouldn't get behind."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Yeah." Tamera said gruffly. "We need to have some serious upgrades from last summer, and you know what change we got make first?"

"What?" Allison and I asked in unison.

"Stronger wheels."

I laughed and Allison rolled her eyes, but turned and started walking toward the cabins her cabin, Tamera and I not far behind, each one of us eager to get planning my brother and Ashton's demise.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! Thanks for the review! Got my butt into gear and finishing this chapter! Hope you guys like it!

~secrethalfblood

Apov

Considering it had been months since I'd been here, I'd forgotten how easy it was to fall back into my usual camp routine. Between school, sports, and friends in the mortal world, it wasn't hard to forget about the mythological one, well, until monsters attacked.

Despite the fact my best friend and his sister were demigods, most of the time Camp Halfblood and the world it belonged to felt pretty much just like a normal camp. A place you went between breaks to have fun and meet with friends. The only difference was, this one had magic and swords.

But it all came back to me like it always did the minute I stepped into the arena, and when I faced the targets, I didn't miss a single shot.

"How do you and Ashton make this look so easy?" A familiar voice asked in frustration.

I looked away from the younger campers I was instructing to see Charlie and his girlfriend Annie. They were, well, for lack of a better word, struggling.

She was shaking her arm, the bright red mark running down it obviously string slap from the bow in her hand.

"You alright Annie?" I asked as she rubbed the burn, trying not to wince.

"Yeah." She said her voice tight. "Just stings."

She was a pretty girl with light brown eyes, freckles, and dark hair that was pulled back into the sort of braid that only a daughter of Aphrodite could pull off, which she was.

"I don't get it." Charlie said sounding a little frustrated himself. "I told her to do exactly what you tell people to do and showed her my stance." He made a hopeless gesture. "I keep watching her shoot and can't figure out what she's doing wrong."

"Probably because you're a crappy teacher dude." I said amused and he shrugged.

I could tell he was a bit annoyed at this, but didn't respond because part of him knew I was right. Charlie was my best friend and while I would trust him with my life, the guy absolutely could not teach. I wasn't exactly sure why either.

He was smart as hell and could more than hold his own in the arena, but there seemed to be a disconnect in his brain when it came to explaining things. Whether it was archery or algebra, he just did not have the ability to help people understand something that just came naturally to him. He could accomplish just about anything he set his mind to, he just couldn't teach anyone else when he figured out how.

I'd found this out the hard way whenever he'd tried to help me in our first semester going to the same school. I was having trouble with geometry and while he could have slept through that class and ace the tests, he couldn't even explain a warm up problem without confusing me even worse than if he hadn't said anything at all.

"I wish Harper was here." Annie said a little dejected bringing me back to the present. "She gets how my brain works. Things make much more sense when she explains them."

"Even if Bambi was here, you'd still be out of luck." I said trying not to grin as Charlie laughed.

"Why?" Annie asked sounding a little surprised, and I'd realized how much time she must have been spending with us lately if she'd gotten used to my nickname for Charlie's sister. "Harper's a great teacher."

That was actually true. Harper was just as smart as her brother, and as good of a fighter, but she somehow had a much more intuitive grasp of getting people to understand things. But while Harper was a much better teacher than her brother, there was one thing her brother was a lot better at than she was.

"Harps is a terrible shot babe." Charlie said still chuckling. "She couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with an arrow. She's even worse than you."

"Hey." She said giving him a sharp look, but I saw her cheeks go a little pink and she sounded defensive. "I'm trying, ok?"

"You're right. You're right." He said quickly, putting his hands up in the universal 'You win' gesture, then kissing her on the cheek. "I'm sorry."

"That's what I thought." She said her eyes warning before glancing back at the target. Her features gave way to disappointment. "Well, I think I'm going to give up for the day. Maybe it just isn't meant to be."

"Slow down Annie. Let me see your stance."

She gave me a dubious look.

"I dunno Ash." She looked a little self conscious. "I think my arm's taken enough abuse."

She held it up revealing that the skin was still red.

"You don't have to shoot anything. I just want to look at your basic form. Charlie might have missed something."

"Probably pretty likely." He agreed in a self-deprecating tone and she grinned slightly.

"He might have missed something." I continued. "And the dumbass should have given you an arm guard."

I tapped the leather strapped to my forearm.

"Even experienced archers can mess up and hit themselves by accident." I continued, smirking at Charlie. "Just because he's stupid and thinks he doesn't need one doesn't mean you should suffer for it."

"I don't need one." He muttered stubbornly, but then looked a little guilty as he glanced at her arm. "But you're right. I should have given her one."

"Here." I said unstrapping the guard and handing it to Annie.

She put it on and took a basic square stance, where I immediately spotted the problem.

"Your anchors are off." I explained gesturing towards the weapon. "And you're gripping the bow way too hard."

"I don't want to drop it." she said nervously. "What happens if I let go of it and it goes flying?"

I saw Charlie was trying valiantly not to laugh at this and I shot him a look.

"Trust me." I said. "Relax your grip. It'll help."

After a few minor adjustments, and assurances that the guard would protect her arm, Annie agreed to try another shot.

"I hit it!" she said delightedly, jumping up and down when the arrow buried itself into the target.

"Nice work." I said with a grin. While she'd only hit the outer ring, the arrow had gone in pretty far. "That's a solid shot."

"I can't believe I hit it!" She said beaming and giggling as Charlie tackled her in a bear hug.

"Nicely done." He said kissing her on the cheek then giving me a grateful expression and mouthing.

'Thanks man.'

I nodded, gave him a quick thumbs up so Annie wouldn't see, then went back to observing the younger campers.

I spent the rest of the time allotted to the activity going back and forth between helping Annie and the new demigods, teaching both the basics with a bow.

"What I don't get," Annie said as we walked out of the arena. "Is if Harper is as terrible a shot as you say, why don't you help her Ash?"

"Because he values his life." Charlie said with a chuckle.

"What does that mean?" She asked suspiciously.

I frowned for a second, trying to find the best way to phrase what I wanted to say.

"I've tried to help her before." I said eventually as we continued to walk. "It didn't go so well."

That was an understatement. If I was completely honest, it had been a nightmare.

Harper had been the worst student I'd ever worked with. She was smarter than most people and she knew it, and if I had to guess, she didn't like feeling stupid if she didn't take to something right away. Constructive or not, she didn't take to criticism all that well. Especially from me.

Of course I knew I couldn't say any of this. Charlie, who whole heartedly admitted that teasing his sister was one of his favorite pastimes, was also one of her biggest defenders. He was quick to mess with her, but he was also the first to try and deck someone if they crossed what he considered to be the line. It was the reason why a good seventy percent of the opinions I had about her, positive _or_ negative, were left unsaid. It was hard to tell sometimes what would upset him when it came to her, or what would make him laugh.

"You know how she is." Charlie continued putting an arm around Annie who rolled her eyes. "Harper's just a little high strung. Who knows why she gets so uptight."

"Probably because she has a brother who goes around calling her high strung." Annie said pointedly, but it seemed lost on Charlie so she continued. "You should be nicer to your sister." She chided. "She's really nice."

"Yeah, when she wants to talk to people." Charlie said and I could tell Annie wanted to argue, but decided against it.

Probably because she knew he was right.

Harper was a good person, and at her core she was very kind, but she was an academic at heart. If she wasn't reading, she was often ruminating over something she'd read, or trying to solve whatever thought experiment she'd devoted herself to that moment. She liked thinking. She wanted to learn. And she just wasn't interested in small talk that distracted her from it. It made her seem stand offish a lot and it often rubbed people the wrong way, but I knew she wasn't trying to be rude. Most of the time, when it seemed like she was ignoring someone, she just was lost in thought.

"Well, you should still be nicer to her." Annie said eventually, stopping and looking up at Charlie. "She's your sister, and you guys tease her a lot."

At this she shot me the same look she'd given him.

"Give her a break alright?"

"Alright." Charlie said in an appeasing tone and she smiled before standing on her toes and kissing him on the cheek.

"Good." She said with a bright smile. "I've got to go though. I'm supposed to meet Jas at the lake. New campers aren't going to teach themselves how to canoe."

I felt a slight pang of something go through me at Jasmine's nick name, but I wasn't sure what it was. Charlie seemed to have noticed though, because he glanced at me, before turning back to his Annie.

"Alright." He said grinning down at her. "Have fun."

"I'll try." She said with a sigh. "Hopefully no one will splash me today. I don't want to get my hair wet."

She gave him one last smile before walking in the direction of the lake, joining some siblings headed that way.

He watched her go for a second, still grinning kind of like an idiot the way most people did when they were dating one of the Aphrodite siblings, before glancing at me.

His expression had changed and I cut him off, forestalling the question I knew he'd wanted to ask.

"I don't want to talk about Jas." I said shaking my head and starting to walk.

I didn't even really know where I was going, but I felt a little restless.

"Alright." He said carefully, in a 'message received,' sort of tone. "So I guess nothing's changed on that front?"

"Yes she made that very clear." I said a little annoyed we were still on the topic.

Jasmine had made it more than understood over the last few times we'd talked that she was not interested in a relationship with me or ever going back to being anything more than friends. But what wasn't clear was why she still spent so much time talking to me, and if I was honest, flirting with me, ever since I got back to camp.

"I mean, what's the point?" I burst out a little unexpectedly and he glanced at me, clearly startled. "Why does she say she doesn't want to go out, then act like were still dating half the time?"

It was clear she still liked me. What was the problem?

"Dunno man," he said sympathetically clapping a hand on my shoulder in obvious consolidation. "Sometimes things just don't work out."

It was clear that this was supposed to be comforting, but I doubted he would have wanted to hear that if Annie had been acting this way.

"Yeah, maybe." I muttered.

It didn't make me feel any better though.

"It'll all get sorted out." He said comfortably. "She clearly still has a thing for you. And who knows. Maybe you'll find someone better."

"Yeah." I agreed, but it was mostly to kill the topic.

"Well. I got to go." He said glancing at his watch. "I'm supposed to be at the climbing wall in a few minutes. I'll see you on the court later."

"Alright."

He nodded clearly thinking the matter was done, and I watched him make his way towards the climbing wall not really feeling all that certain that it was.

I really liked Jasmine, and it was obvious she still liked me, but I didn't understand what she was doing. I didn't want to think she was just playing games with me, she'd always seemed like a nice person, but she was a daughter of Aphrodite. Sometimes it was what they did. Did she just want me to try harder to win her over? Or was it something else?

I shook my head deciding not to think about it for now. I'd made how I felt clear, at this point, the ball was totally in her court and I shouldn't be wasting my time trying to read into the behavior of someone who'd clearly said what they wanted.

I was in danger of starting down a line of serious overthinking when I spotted a familiar figure sitting on the steps of the Big House, as always, her nose buried in a book.

I changed directions.

"What are you reading now, Bambi?" I asked grinning slightly, noticing that the Russian book had gone and she was absorbed in something new.

Harper looked up, clearly annoyed but her expression changed when she caught mine.

"What did your girlfriend do this time?" She asked.

"What?"

"Your face." She said gesturing towards it, squinting behind her glasses as she looked up at me, the sun clearly in her eyes. "You only ever look that way when you and Jasmine are on the outs."

She looked, well, concerned wasn't the right word, but sympathetic. She was clearly ready to let me talk if I needed to, but suddenly, I didn't feel nearly as frustrated as I did just a few minutes ago.

"Who knows with her." I said extending a hand.

The gesture was automatic and she took it, letting me pull her to her feet.

"Jeez you're light." I muttered and she rolled her eyes, letting go of my hand.

"Don't try to distract me with short jokes," she said throwing me the sort of look I often saw Annie give Charlie when she meant business. "It's not going to work."

She hesitated and though we gave each other endless crap, I could tell she was serious when she asked.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing I need to worry about right now." I said honestly, and it was true. I felt better.

By her expression I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Seriously." I continued allowing myself to relax a little. "What are you reading?"

She gave me a suspicious look, obviously trying to gauge whether I really cared or not, then relented.

"The Iliad." She said holding up the book and I was surprised.

"Didn't we read this last semester?" I asked a little amused taking the book. "And haven't you read it like five hundred times by now?"

"_I_ read the book last semester." She said taking the book back her tone pointed. "While you and Charlie cheated and used my notes."

"We had a huge tournament the week of the test." I started automatically and she raised an eyebrow.

"And all the other weeks?"

That I didn't have an answer for.

"Speaking of tests, how'd you do on finals?" she asked and I felt my stomach sink a little.

Back home Charlie, Harper, and I all attended the same school. It was private and pretty competitive academic wise, and part of me felt like the only reason I was still able to attend was because of the recommendation their father had given me as well as the fact that Charlie and I kept their basketball team on the map for college scouts.

Of course having a mother as one of the world's top surgeons didn't hurt either, but there was only so much other people's accomplishments could cover for. Being totally honest, when it came to the classes, I struggled to keep up.

"I'm not sure." I admitted.

I hadn't felt that great during my exams, but at the very least the classes I'd had with her I'd felt I'd managed to get a passing grade.

"Dad sent Charlie and my scores in the last letters he sent." She said brining me back to the present and I looked at her. "You should call your mom."

"Yeah," I said a little bitterly. "I'm pretty sure I don't want to see those grades. And I'm absolutely certain I don't want her to, let alone draw her attention to the fact that they're out."

"Don't say that." She said shaking hear head. "You said that about the chem midterm and that turned out fine."

"Well yeah you're right." I said and she smiled.

One thing that was nice about Harper, was that even though I knew she did much better than me at school, she never made me feel stupid. Even when it came to something like this.

"Stop beating yourself up." She said resolutely. "You're too hard on yourself."

"About school?"

"About everything." She corrected but her tone was sincere. "School, whatever the hell Jasmine is going through, what your mom thinks. About what everyone thinks really."

"Harper, aren't you the one always calling me a moron?" I asked a little indignantly and I could tell she almost laughed.

"You are a moron." She said shaking her head in exasperation, clearly trying to cover it. "But that doesn't mean you're not smart."

She grinned a little.

"Just look at Charlie." She continued brightly, as if this should have explained everything. "He's a moron, but he's a moron that's been doing calculus test prep since he was eleven."

It was only when we stopped that I realized we'd been walking. I looked up to find myself outside the Athena cabin, I hadn't even noticed I'd walked her all the way back.

"Still." I said pretending to think it over, but I was grinning. "Don't you think it's a little mean, calling me names?"

"Ash, I don't know if you've noticed, but that's kind of what we do." She said amused as she started walking up the steps that led to the cabin. "I call you a moron. You annoy me with a patronizing nickname. And the world keeps spinning."

"I do not patronize you." I said a little indignantly and she turned.

She was about halfway up the steps and for once, her face was almost level to mine.

"Oh please." She said with an expression that clearly said. 'Give me a break.' "Bambi? How is comparing me to an baby woodland creature not patronizing?"

"Do you even know why I started calling you that?" I asked knowing I should probably let this go but I couldn't. I didn't like the idea of her thinking I looked down on her.

"Yeah." She said and this time she looked genuinely annoyed. "Charlie told me."

"What did he say?" I asked frowning.

"He said you told him I looked like a deer in headlights when you first started talking to me." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Like I was so surprised someone like you was talking to me."

Her tone was terse, clearly trying to sound impassive but not quite pulling it off. I could tell this bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

No matter how much it bothered her though, I was sure it upset me more because I had never said that. But explaining would only complicate things, and I didn't want things to complicate things between her or my best friend.

Instead, I ignored it.

"Harper," I said a little incredulous. "You don't honestly think I think that what? I'm too cool for you or something like that?"

"No." She muttered looking a little embarrassed.

"Good." I said and she glanced at me. "Because Charlie might be my best friend, but that doesn't stop you from being my friend too."

"I know."

"So we're good?"

She sighed and looked as if she wanted to say something, but then thought better of it.

"Yeah." She said eventually. "We're good."

"Excellent." I said with a smirk. "We can go back to name calling in good faith."

"Uhg, go away Ash." She said turning and continuing up the steps to her cabin, but I could tell she was grinning.

"I'll see you later Bambi." I called after her, feeling a smirk make its way across my features.

She didn't turn around, but she did acknowledge my statement. Even if it was only with one finger that was held up in a very impolite gesture.

My smirk grew.

"See ya Harper." I said quietly, and while the door had already been shut, and there was no one but me to hear it, despite how much I tried to annoy her, I liked saying her name.

I turned, trying to figure out how I should spend my time before I had to get back to the arena, but nearly jumped when I saw Charlie not ten feet away, heading towards the Athena cabin.

"I thought you were at the climbing wall?" I asked willing my pulse to slow to a more reasonable level.

"I was," he said with a shrug. "But one of the younger campers was injured so the councilors were dealing with that."

He stopped in front of me then nodded at the door.

"What's up with Harper?"

"What do you mean?" I asked uncertainly, a little unsure as to why I suddenly felt a little nervous, but then he grinned.

"I saw her flipping you off." He laughed. "What did you annoy her or something?"

Relief flooded through me, but I couldn't exactly explain why.

"Probably." I said grinning, trying not to think about it. "I'm pretty good at it."

"What are you up to now?"

I shrugged.

"Nothing."

I had some time between archery lessons, which left me with about an hour to kill.

"A couple of guys were talking about the basketball tournament earlier. Wanna go shoot some hoops?" he asked. "Get some practice in before the tournament starts?"

There was usually at least a couple of sports tournaments each summer run by the councilors and anyone who wanted to make a team. Charlie and I always created a team for the basketball brackets, and we almost always won.

"Sure." I nodded, then gestured towards my cabin. "Just let me grab my shoes."

"Cool. I'll meet you on the court."

He grinned then, like Harper, walked up the steps into his cabin.

I watched him go wondering why I'd felt so jumpy earlier when I'd seen him. I was only talking to Harper. There was nothing wrong with that. Charlie was my best friend, and Harper was his sister. It was normal that we talked, in fact, it would have been weird if we didn't. Right?

I let out a sigh and shook my head, walking back to my cabin, not really sure why I felt the need to keep justifying things to myself, or what I was even justifying really.

Harper was my friend. Just because she was related to Charlie didn't mean it had to be weird. I'd known her just as long as I'd known him, and sometimes, in some ways, I felt she knew me better than he did.

I put my hands in my pockets and frowned at that thought, not really sure as to why it felt strange to me.

It wasn't like if felt like I couldn't talk to Charlie about stuff. He was my best friend and I knew could tell him anything. Still, sometimes, between the two of them, I felt like when it came to talking about the things that bothered me, Harper was the one who actually listened. Especially when it came to things like school.

'But that's not so weird.' I thought. 'People get different things out of different friendships.'

Despite the fact that they were both insanely smart and that they were twins, I couldn't help but think that Harper and Charlie were very different people. Maybe that's why they got on each other's nerves so much.

'It's not a crime to have different types of friends.' I assured myself. 'Lots of people had different friend groups that they got along with just fine. And different people within their groups.'

In my case, those two just happened to be related…

I was pulled from this circular train of thought when I heard someone call my name.

"Hey! Ash!"

I turned and saw Jasmine and a couple of campers carrying a canoe in the direction of the lake. She was waving and sending a bright smile in my direction.

"Need help?" I asked jogging over to the group.

Most of the campers with her were on the younger side, and it was clear they were struggling with the weight of the boat.

"Do you mind?" she asked sheepishly.

She was still smiling at me, the sort of smile that clearly meant she was interested in me, and I couldn't help myself.

"Yeah, sure." I said stepping over the canoe that they'd rested on the ground as they'd stopped, and grabbing the side opposite hers.

"You're between lessons right now, right?" she asked tucking her hair behind her ear and giving me a half hopeful look as we continued to walk.

"Yeah."

"You want to come out on the water with us?" she asked.

I hesitated.

"I'm supposed to meet Charlie at the basketball court soon." I said honestly and she looked a little disappointed.

"Oh."

"But waiting a few minutes won't kill him."

"Alright."

"Besides, if he gets bored he can talk to Harper."

"Who?" she asked sounding a little confused.

"His twin."

"The one who's always reading? Like, more than normal for an Athena camper?"

"That's her." I confirmed as the lake came into view. "She usually watches him practice. Or at least attempts to. She usually brings a book."

"Alright then." She agreed, but I noticed she didn't look as eager now. As if she'd suddenly regretted asking me to come. "Well, if he doesn't mind…"

Maybe she felt bad about making me late for Charlie...

"He doesn't." I said matter of factly, trying to ease her conscious. "He won't care."

She gave me another smile but looked away quickly and again, I couldn't help but feel like something was off with her. Like there was something she wasn't saying.

"I'd rather be with you Jas." I said trying to reassure her which felt a little ridiculous.

She was a daughter of Aphrodite. I figured she of all people would have known I liked her, but when she smiled at me again, it seemed a little halfhearted. As if her smile told me she knew, but her eyes were saying she wasn't so sure.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi guys! I haven't posted in a while, things have been super crazy with everything that's going on, but I've written more than I expected so hopefully I can post sooner for the next chapter! Like I said, because I posted this story much earlier than I would usually, I'm having to write and rewrite parts and make sure they totally fit before I can post them, so it majorly delays the editing and uploading process, but I saw the review so I decided to go ahead an upload this one. Hopefully you all like the story and are able to stick with it. Stay safe and thank you to everyone who has written reviews/favorited/followed. Hope you like it!

~secrethalfblood

Apov

I spent more time than I had meant to with Jasmine at the lake, causing to me to get to the court a little later than expected. By the time I'd grabbed my things, I saw several other people had joined Charlie.

"What happened to you?" he asked as I jogged over.

Like me, he'd changed into a tank top and basketball shorts as well as his practice shoes. I was glad I'd grabbed some lighter clothes. The weather was always nice at camp and seeing as who my father was, I didn't mind playing in the sun. But it was summer, and there wasn't any shade over the court. I knew it wouldn't be long before the others started complaining about the heat.

"Got a little caught up helping Jas with something." I explained trying to keep my tone casual, but that didn't stop his knowing smirk.

"Ah."

"What's with all the people?" I asked, trying to change the subject and avoiding his eye.

Not only were there other players talking and warming up around the court, but a bit of a crowd watching as well.

"Ran into a couple people on the way here." he said shrugging. "We decided to play a pick up match."

"Is Ash _finally_ here?" a voice called and we looked over to see Aaron, one of the Aphrodite boys, and a friend of ours giving us an exasperated look.

He was a tall guy, as most of the people here were, with dark hair, and clever blue eyes that always made me feel like he could read my mind. I liked the guy, he'd always been nice to me and had given me some pretty great advice when it came to his sister, but just like with her, I constantly got the feeling that he knew more about me than he was letting on. It could be… unsettling, at the very least.

"Yeah!" Charlie said with a grin, and waving to acknowledge that he'd heard. "Let's pick teams."

I lined up with the others while Charlie, and one of the Ares brothers, Chase, that had been talking a few feet away, started picking players.

If I was honest, I knew I was a better player than Charlie, and he did too, but we'd come to a sort of unspoken agreement that he'd always be captain when it came to picking teams. He was better with game strategy anyways, so I didn't mind him calling the shots and this way always ended up on the same team. I also appreciated that I didn't have to be the one to show the world who my last pick would be. It would have made me feel like a jerk.

The two flipped a coin and Charlie won the right to choose first.

Not to anyone's surprise, I was his first pick quickly followed by Aaron who grinned as he walked over to our side of the court.

"'Sup dude?" he asked. "How ya been?"

"Not bad." I said which was honest enough.

I'd noticed, true to form, Harper had shown up to 'watch' Charlie play as well as support one of her friends, an Ares sister who Chase had chosen to play on his team. She was sitting with another friend, Allison, if I remembered correctly, who was also spectating, but seemed a little more into the actual activity. She was talking on and off to a few of her brothers that were sitting to her right, occasionally bringing something to Harper's attention, before returning to her conversation.

"Since when does he play?" I asked nodding towards a boy that had just joined Chase's team. Judging by the high five they shared, the two seemed to be friends.

"Who? James?" Aaron asked with a frown as he turned in the direction I'd indicated.

I nodded.

He wasn't quite as tall as the rest of the crowd, but seeing as this was a basketball game, that wasn't really all that surprising. He was maybe two or three inches shorter than Charlie with a similar build. His hair was short and light brown, and he just as he did right now, he usually had the sort of expression that made think he was up to something. Then again, he was a Hermes camper, so that might have just been his default setting.

"I dunno." Aaron said with a shrug. "Maybe over the last few weeks? But he's not exactly new anymore."

That was true. James made it to camp towards the end of my last winter break. It had caused a bit of a stir because he'd been our age, seventeen. But seeing as he'd lived outside the US, I guess it wasn't _that_ weird it had taken him a little longer to find his way to camp.

There was a pause in which Aaron seemed to be thinking about what he wanted to say, before he continued with.

"What do you think about that guy?"

"Who? James?" I asked and his brow creased a little.

"Yeah."

"To be honest, I don't really." I said, shrugging a little. "Why?"

I didn't know James that well and probably wouldn't have even remembered him arriving if it hadn't been for the fact that he'd grown up in the UK, and pretty much every girl in camp couldn't get over it. The entire rest of my break I couldn't make it through one activity without hearing two or three girls giggling about how cute his accent was.

It was clear, however, by his expression that Aaron had some sort of issue with the guy, though I had no idea what it might be.

"I dunno." He admitted and while his tone was uncertain, his expression wasn't. "Something about the guy is off."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't really put my finger on it." he said looking a bit annoyed by that fact. "Just… when I talk to the guy, something feels not right. I mean, no one had ever heard of this dude before, and then all of the sudden he shows up out of nowhere, and they're sending him on missions and stuff." He shook his head. "Something about it is weird."

That I had to agree with. Once everyone had calmed down about the new guy, things had gotten pretty much back to normal. No one had really talked about him all that much when I was here over spring break. As a demigod, he'd seemed pretty average. But I'd heard some rumors from camp friends while I'd been at school, and lots of stories since I'd come back.

James was here year-round, and apparently after we'd left, he'd made a bit of a name for himself in the arena and on a couple of missions. I'd been a little surprised to hear them considering he hadn't seemed all that special. Maybe that was what Aaron was talking about.

We didn't get to discuss it further.

The teams had been made and the others were pushing to get started considering we only had about a half an hour left to play.

We separated and took our positions on the court, and to my surprise, I saw I was opposite James.

His eyes landed on me and while he smiled, instantly I had the feeling that Aaron might have been right. I wasn't sure why, it was a gut feeling but was something up with this guy. Something I couldn't explain. The feeling increased when his gaze shifted to Harper, who Charlie had somehow convinced to start the tip-off.

I couldn't explain the expression he was wearing, but I could tell you exactly what was in my mind.

_Absolutely. Not._

He must have sensed it, because he looked back. His grin grew into a slight smirk, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

His expression was clear.

'What are you going to do about?'

There was a scuffle of movement as Harper threw the ball into the air and both teams made a grab for it.

There was a split second as Charlie and Chase grappled, but eventually, Chase managed to get control of the ball and threw it to James.

We looked at each other as the teams moved, sizing each other up, and once again, he smirked.

It was at that moment, I decided James was going to realize just exactly what I was going to do about it.

…

The teams ended up being pretty evenly matched not that we'd really been keeping score. However, I found myself not very focused on the game.

James wasn't a bad player, but he was pretty fast. It didn't stop us from trading quite a few fouls back and forth over the game though. I was pretty sure my ribs were going to be bruised even worse than the time Charlie and I had gone paintballing for his birthday.

"What gotten into you today?" Charlie asked, tucking the ball under his arm as we walked over to our water bottles after the game.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said trying to keep my tone neutral but feeling a surge of irritation go through me all the same.

"What am I talking about?" he repeated indignantly. "Dude, I thought you were going to deck that Hermes kid. What was going on with you two?"

Charlie hadn't seen James checking out his sister, as protective of her as he was, he generally wasn't that good at noticing when someone was hitting on her. Not unless they were being painfully obvious.

I debated for a moment, wondering if I should say something, but knowing Charlie he probably actually would try to punch James, so I decided to keep it to myself for the time being. Well, that, and I wasn't quite sure why, but something about the way he'd smirked at me on the court felt personal. Normally, I had no qualms about pointing Charlie in the direction of some asshole trying to make a move on his sister, but this didn't feel quite like that. Despite what Aaron had said, James had managed to make a lot of friends in our time away from camp. He was pretty popular. A lot of people liked him. I had a feeling even if I did tell Charlie what was up, James would manage to talk his way out of it. And if he was up to something, I didn't want my suspicions being dismissed as being paranoid by the people who would defend him.

"He plays dirty." I said eventually, my tone stiff. "It annoyed me."

"Never seemed to bother you before." He pointed out, but left it at that.

We made it off the court and while I was half paying attention to the conversation around me, I was also keeping an eye on Harper, hoping to catch her and warn her about James.

I'd been so distracted, I didn't realize he'd walked over to our team's cluster of people.

"Good game guys."

A shot of irritation went through me as I recognized the accent.

I turned, seeing James not three feet away, and while he was grinning and his tone was friendly, his gaze was far from it. And it had locked straight on to me.

"You too man," Zack, one of my brothers, responded easily, clearly not getting the same vibe as the rest of us who'd simply nodded.

I found myself wondering if I wasn't the only one Aaron had been talking to.

"Can I ask you guys something?"

I didn't respond, but Zack who, always was looking for friend in this crowd, seemed more than happy to oblige.

"Sure, what's up?" he asked eagerly. He was four years younger than me, but had hit his growth spurt early so had been playing with our age group for a while. I had a feeling he'd do just about anything to feel like he fit in with the 'big kids'.

"Who's the bird with the dictionary?" James nodded towards Harper, who was talking to the Ares sister, her arms folded over the massive book she'd been reading earlier.

"Who? Harper?" Zack asked looking over his shoulder and James smile grew.

"Harper?" he asked his tone pleased. "Pretty name for a pretty girl."

This I couldn't ignore, but Aaron, seeing my expression probably, cut in before I could say anything.

"She's also Charlie's sister." He said his tone heavy with meaning. "_Twin_ sister. So, yeah. Good luck with that."

James's eyes darted over to Charlie who'd gone to talk to Annie and a few of her friends that had stopped by to catch the end of the game.

"Ah. Is he a bit of a prat when it comes to her talking to guys?"

"You could say so." I said, trying to convey that I wasn't having this either, but at this he laughed.

"Got some personal experience with that, have you?" he asked raising an eyebrow at me before glancing back at Harper. "Seems a bit ridiculous don't you think? It's the twenty first century. Shouldn't Harper decide who she wants to talk to? Not her brother."

"She's his sister." I said annoyed. "He's allowed to look out for her."

"And what's your excuse?" he said smoothly.

I felt a shock go through me, followed by an increase in tension in the group as a few of them glanced at me.

"You know I think I'll take my chances with watch dog brother over there." He said a little condescension in his tone as his eyes flitted to Charlie and back. "I figure a girl who's burned through four books since she got here is probably smart enough to look out for herself."

And with that, he walked past us towards Harper, leaving each of us staring after him in shock.

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel. Anger was part of it, that was for sure, but I also felt a little weird. Like I'd been put in my place.

I hesitated for a moment, uncertain what I was supposed to do. But just as I'd started to go after him, I felt a hand on my shoulder, holding me back.

"Don't."

It was Aaron. He looked annoyed, but he didn't let me go.

"You've got to be kidding me." I said darkly but he shook his head.

"No, I get it." he said in conciliatory tone. "He's totally an ass, and I think he's trouble, but he is right." He made a begrudging expression, as if admitting this went against what he wanted to say. "You don't get to decide who talks to Harper and who doesn't. That's her choice."

The others had started to drift towards their activities, but Aaron and I were still glaring at James.

"Look at it this way." He said when he saw I was still unconvinced. "He's obviously going to talk to Harper either way, but if you and Charlie try to scare him off, all it's going to do is make her mad at you."

"You're probably right about that." I admitted. Harper hated it when we got involved with this sort of thing.

"I am one hundred percent right about that." He said his eyes narrowing as James managed to get Harper's attention and extended his hand.

I was pleased to see her look a little suspicious, but she shook it anyways.

"Let him make an ass of himself, but he's right. Harper is smart." He crossed his arms of his chest but he looked a little satisfied as he continued. "As long as she doesn't think you're trying to control who's talking to her, she'll probably ask you what you think about union jack. Besides,"

His grin grew a little as suddenly, Charlie broke from his conversation, finally having noticed what was going on.

"What in Hades name does that idiot think he's doing?!"

Charlie stormed over to Harper and her friends, Annie jogging anxiously after him.

Aaron chuckled.

"I think Charlie has the threatening under control."

Part of me wanted to back Charlie up, but I had a feeling Aaron was right. If James was going to try and talk to Harper regardless of what Charlie and I were going to say, there would need to be a voice of reason between the two. One she'd trust. I didn't want her to think I was warning her away from James just because Charlie wanted me to.

Still…

"I feel like I should be over there." I said in frustration and he shrugged.

"You're not her brother."

"That doesn't mean I don't want to look out for her."

He looked at me, his expression hard to read, but not for the first time I felt like he knew more than he was letting on and I felt uneasy.

"What?"

"Nothing." He said, and while his tone was light, there was obvious meaning behind it. "It's just, James is hardly the first person to ask around about the pretty girl with the book on the side of the court."

"That was different." I snapped automatically, but he looked unconvinced.

"Was it?" he asked delicately.

"Yes." I snapped and again he shrugged, clearly not convinced.

"Harper is my friend." I said indignantly. "It's not a crime to want to look out for her."

"You're right, it's not." He agreed. "But you probably shouldn't lie to yourself about why."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, genuinely confused, but he didn't explain.

"Just think about it." he said grabbing his bag and giving me a significant look, then nodding in the direction of the twins.

I looked over to see Charlie and Harper arguing, while Annie tried to calm them down. James wasn't there so I figured he'd decided to pull the pin and run.

"Crap." I muttered with a tired sigh, and jogged over to the siblings to help Annie de-escalate the situation.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone! Thanks for the reviews! I hope everyone is staying safe and you guys like the latest chapter!

~ secrethalfblood

Hpov

"Do you ever wish Mom gave us more useful gifts?" Charlie asked as we studied the map on the pages in front of us.

We'd gotten over the blow up we'd had on the basketball court a few days ago, and as we did every week, had joined forces in capture the flag. We were now trying to determine the most likely location the other team might have hidden their flag. So far, our party had made it deep into enemy territory without finding much. Taking a moment to find the best plan of action seemed like the smartest idea.

"You don't find this useful?" I asked in surprise looking away from the map and up at him.

While my mother had given me my glasses, she'd given my brother a journal that had the ability to transform into any book, an ability we were currently exploiting to get a better picture of the terrain the other team was working with.

"I guess," he said with a shrug, but he sounded unenthusiastic. "Still, don't you think a weapon would come in handy more often? Like Ashton's bow."

He nodded towards the boulder Ashton was standing on, keeping watch out for players on the other team. He had an arrow notched, but his stance was relaxed as he periodically glanced back at the rest of us to keep up with the conversation.

I knew it would annoy some people that Ashton wasn't taking his post very seriously, but I didn't really care. Sleep deprived, cursed, or just plain not looking at the target, I'd never seen him miss a shot.

"I like my glasses." I said with a shrug.

Ashton's quiver had been enchanted to create an endless supply of whatever type of arrows he chose, and while I was sure that was helpful in combat, I found my glasses had much more practicality in my day to day life.

"How'd you even find a map of the woods?" Terry, the last member of our group, asked looking over my shoulder at it.

Terry our oldest brother, and head councilor. He was normal height for a guy, with neat blonde hair and deep blue eyes that were scanning the features on the pages.

At his question, Ashton let out a laugh.

"Bambi got bored last summer while she was in the infirmary." He answered, grinning at the memory. "Had me bring her whatever books I could find in the Big House every time I was on medic duty."

"One of the older ones had a map of the woods from when they first started running the capture the flag games." I explained, choosing to ignore the nickname for once and pointing to a clearing marked just west of our position. "I figured it might be helpful so I made sure I remembered the title and what it looked like. Let's check here." I continued, tapping the spot drawing both Terry and Charlie's attention to it. "Even if the flag isn't there, it's not far from where Tamera's scouting party should be. We can meet up with them and regroup."

"Sounds good to me." Said Charlie with a shrug, then glanced up to his friend. "You good with that Ash?"

"Yeah." He said shouldering his bow and starting to climb off of the boulder.

He hit the ground lightly and after a couple of seconds where we adjusted our weapons and armor, we set off for the clearing.

We didn't meet any resistance as we moved which was weird. The sun was setting and the woods were starting to get dark. Normally this wouldn't have bothered me, but something felt wrong today. The whole situation was just... eerie.

"You ok Bambs?" Ashton asked bringing me back to the present.

"Ok, I'm killing that one right here." I said shaking my head in exasperation and he chuckled.

"Fair enough," He slowed down to match my pace, letting the others pull ahead of us. "But seriously," he asked his smile fading. "You ok?"

"Yeah." I said and while it wasn't exactly a lie, I wasn't so sure that I meant it.

He stopped.

"Then why do you look worried?"

"I dunno." I admitted looking around, feeling as if eyes were on me.

Nothing was really wrong so much as just off. Everything was so… quiet. Capture the flag was usually the most exciting part of our week at camp, demigods battling it out with almost no restrictions. If anything, things tended to get a bit out of hand. But our group hadn't run into anyone. We hadn't even heard anyone else fighting. In fact, we hadn't so much as seen the other team.

That was highly unusual.

"Do you think it's weird we've been in enemy territory and haven't met any resistance?"

"GET DOWN!"

Ashton and I immediately turned toward Terry's voice, then hit the forest floor as a cloud of fire hurtled towards us.

There was a series of flashes and booms where I covered my head and braced for more bombs until, disoriented, I felt someone pulling at me, trying to get me to my feet.

Confused, ears still ringing, I struggled to my feet with the help of Ashton who was shouting about traps.

Land mines around us continued to explode throwing dirt and debris into the air.

"Where are my brothers?" I managed to shout over the blasts, not daring to let go of Ashton's hand that had found it's way into mine as we dodge explosions and the projectiles they were creating.

"They made it through!" he shouted. "C'mon!"

We sprinted among the chaos towards Terry and Charlie who were trying to fend off what looked like a swarm of the other team's players.

Clearly, we'd stumbled into an ambush, but I didn't have time to think about it now.

Ashton and I hit the edge of the midfield our weapons out ready for a fight.

"You ok?" Terry asked using his shield to beat back an attack of one of the Hermes kids.

"We're alive." Ashton shouted back, smacking an enemy with his bow before taking aim and shooting a dagger from the hand of a camper charging Charlie.

Shocked, he halted shaking his hand and took I advantage of the moment.

Grabbing his wrist, I bent his arm behind his back and forced him to the ground.

"Ash!"

It was all the prompting he needed.

I looked up to see he'd tossed two arrows in my direction which I drove through the material of the boy's wrist guards, pinning them to the ground.

Suddenly, I heard an aggressive shout and my head jerked up just in time to see a body flying towards me.

I was tackled to the ground, my head connecting with something hard before hitting the ground.

The next few moments were a series of rolls and shoves as I tried to break free of the person's hold. Suddenly, I felt camper ripped off of me and dizzy, I looked up to see Charlie had grabbed the assailant and was dragging him away.

I tried to push myself to my feet but swayed. I felt something warm steady me.

"I'm fine Ash." I said shaking my head, knowing it was him before looking up.

Being a sun of Apollo, Ashton was always warm. Standing next to him was like stepping into a sunbeam.

"You're bleeding."

"Yes, and I'm fine." I said touching the cut on my temple gingerly, then glancing at the blood on my fingertips.

"But-" He started to protest.

I cut him off.

"We've got bigger problems." I said glancing at our immediate surroundings, taking in the situation.

We were outnumbered, badly. Terry and Charlie were making a slow retreat in our direction, but the enemy campers were backing us towards the mine field we'd just broken through.

I reached for my sword, ready to fight when suddenly, a battle cry cracked through the rapidly darkening woods.

"AAAAAARRRRRRREEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!"

Ashton and I looked up to see a horde of campers from cabin five, Tamera at their head, battle ax in hand, barreling through the trees, catching the opposing team off guard and scattering the ambush.

"Alright!" Charlie said with a satisfied grin, holding his sword up in solidarity before letting out a call of his own and diving into the fray.

"Harper… wait!"

I ignored Ashton's warning and charged after Charlie, ready to back him up in battle.

Ashton swore, then ran after us.

The next several minutes were a mass of weapons and shouts. Chaos and confusion reigned as metal clanged and the teams tried to organize, I felt confident we were just about to break through when a sharp, familiar sound brought the fighting to a stop.

The hunting horn had been blown. The game had ended.

"Who won?" I asked glancing at Terry who shrugged looking just as confused as I tried to account for the members of each team as helmets came off and weapons were put away.

In a large disorganized mass, we moved towards the boundary where we saw a crowd of people cheering and jumping around a figure on their shoulders.

"You've got to be kidding me." Ashton muttered while Charlie swore.

"Seriously? _Him_?"

James, the guy my brother had freaked out at the other day, was being carried out of the woods, in his hands was unmistakably, our team's flag.

"That's just perfect." Charlie spat glancing at me, clearly in a foul mood, but his expression changing suddenly.

"Harper. You're bleeding."

"I'm fine." I said but he ignored me, gesturing towards my temple.

"Ash. Her head."

"Charlie, hey!"

He grabbed my shoulders, trying to shove me towards Ashton, clearly expecting him to examine the wound as one of the camp's medics but I struggled.

"Charlie. Stop. I'm fine."

"Stop squirming."

"Let me go!"

We were attracting some attention at this point. Several people were looking our way, grinning slightly, no doubt ready for the latest Davis twin squabble we were known around camp for.

"Boundaries Charlie!" I said in exasperation, managing to extricate myself from his grip and swatting away his hand when he tried to grab me again. "Stop!"

By now people were laughing and I felt my cheeks start to flush, but it looked as if Charlie hadn't even noticed.

"She seems fine man." Terry said in an appeasing tone.

"See!" I said gesturing towards our brother but Charlie continued to look stubborn.

"Will you just let him look at it?" he asked clearly annoyed and while I wanted to snap, I knew I would never hear the end of it if I didn't.

"Fine." I said with a sigh, well aware of the people that were staring at us and once again, Charlie was going to get his way.

Charlie nodded towards Ashton who stepped in front of me, squinting at the injury as once again, the familiar feeling of warmth crept into the air between us.

"I can't really see much." He muttered to himself.

"Need a flashlight?" Terry asked reaching for his pocket, but Ashton shook his head.

There was a moment where he seemed to be concentrating on something, then, seemingly out of nowhere, wisps of light started to gather around his fingertips.

I blushed and tried to avoid eye contact with everyone as the temperature around us increased, well aware of the attention his ability was attracting, and all the eyes were on us.

Photokinesis was a rare power for demigods to have, even the children of Apollo. Ashton rarely ever used it, but when he did, everyone wanted to watch.

"Is this really necessary, Ash?" I mumbled, but he ignored me inspecting the wound.

He was muttering something, his fingertips inches from my skin, and it was impossible to ignore. This close to the light, it felt like the night that had been closing in on us all through the woods had been banished, like he'd brought back a small part of the summer sun and was holding it between us. Despite having seen him do it before, I knew it was something I'd never get used to.

His eyes met mine briefly, the golden light reflecting in them and catching in his hair. It made all of his features warmer and brighter than they already were. I was rooted to the spot, well aware of the people looking at us, but not quite able to make myself step back.

And then it was over.

"Well?" Charlie asked when the light faded and Ashton stepped away. "Does she have a concussion or something?"

His words were quick and anxious, as if he expected Ashton to say I needed surgery.

"Should she go to the infirmary for the next few days?"

"I'm fine!" I said in exasperation, but avoiding Ashton's gaze all the same.

"She's alright." He said. "Just a minor abrasion. Healed fine."

It was then I realized what he'd been doing when he'd been talking to himself. I touched my face instinctively to find aside from some of the blood that had dried in my hair, the skin was unblemished.

The injury was gone.

"Ash, you didn't have-"

"It was her head though." Charlie pressed, drowning out my sentence and turning on his friend. "Maybe she should go to the Big House. Just to be safe."

Knowing how he could get, I took the chance to escape before getting caught up in twenty minutes of reassuring Charlie that I wasn't going to die, trying to ignore the barely concealed chuckles as I passed.

'Gods why did he have to get so freaked out?' I thought embarrassed, trying to ignore the smirks that followed me as I walked.

From the way Charlie reacted sometimes, you'd think I was a four year old with a habit of running around with sharp objects.

"What was that about?"

I glanced up to see Tamera's hulking figure detaching from a crowd of her siblings. One of the few groups that hadn't been sucked in by the Davis family drama. They looked annoyed and so did she, clearly, they weren't happy about losing the game.

"What do you think?" I asked as I spotted Allison, who was waving at us from our favorite spot near the campfire. "Charlie's overreacting."

"Situation normal it seems."

"Yeah, no kidding." I muttered.

We made our way to the fire and sat on the log with Allison.

"You ok Harper?" she asked her usually bright tone tinged with concern.

"What?" I asked.

"I saw the lights show over there." She nodded towards the direction Tamera and I had walked from, where Ashton and Charlie were probably still going back and forth debating about my imminent death, or whatever Charlie had worked himself into believing. "It was obvious Ashton was up to something. I figured either you or Charlie might have gotten a little beat up."

"She was practically beheaded, can't you tell?" Tamera asked with a sarcastic snort.

"I'm fine." I said quietly when she looked confused. "Just got a bump on the head. Then Charlie decided to be... well, Charlie."

"Ah." She said with an understanding nod and thankfully my friends, the rational people, left it at that.

People trickled in from the woods, many still sporting injuries that I noticed they and their siblings didn't feel the need to strong arm the Apollo kids into healing. Most of them were laughing over the scrapes or comparing scars. It wasn't long before I felt myself shrinking a little as I stared at the flames.

I wasn't bad in the arena. I mean, obviously I wasn't Tamera, and I didn't have any crazy weapons or traps like Allison that would make me stand out in capture the flag, but still… I was a decent fighter. But the way Charlie reacted when I got into any kind of danger, was like I was made of glass. Both he and Ashton, had been selected to go on missions before, so had Allison. Hell, Tamera had been on plenty of quests and come back alright. But I'd never been the one people had thought to go to when things went wrong. I'd had my fair share of monster fights outside of camp during the school year, but I was starting to feel like I was never going to be taken seriously as a fighter here at camp. Not when Charlie, and by extension, Ashton, felt the need to act as my human shields.

I didn't get it.

I barely noticed as the singing started. Candice, the head of the Apollo cabin, a pretty girl with curly blonde hair and the voice of an angel led the campers, with the lyrics while Ashton played a guitar.

A lot of girls were looking at him, including Jasmine, who I was surprised wasn't sitting next to him like she usually did.

Part of me wondered what was going on there, but the other part of me told me I shouldn't care. I already spent enough mental energy on Charlie and his best friend.

All and all, I was sort of glad when the music died down at Chiron dismissed everyone to the cabins. At this point, I just wanted the day to end.

I said good night to Tamera and Allison, and was walking back to the cabin with Sabrina when I heard a voice call out my name.

"Hey! Harper!"

Surprised at the obvious accent, and knowing there was only one person it could belong to, I turned to see James had broken from a group of the popular campers and was jogging towards me. They were the sort of people Ashton and Charlie were usually surrounded by, and he was leaving several obviously disappointed girls behind.

"Yeah?" I asked glancing at Sabrina, who looked just as surprised as I felt, before looking back at James.

"I heard you were seen by a medic after the game." He said coming to a halt in front of me. "Are you alright?"

Even in the dark, I could see his expression was concerned.

"Yeah." I said feeling my cheeks burn yet again. Gods, was the story going around that fast? "Yeah, I'm fine." I shook my head. "It was just Ashton."

"Just Ashton?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "Your brother's mate?"

I nodded.

"I'll be honest. I'm a little surprised to hear you say that." He said with a slight grin and I was struck with the realization that he was actually pretty cute. "I thought you and him might have been a thing."

"Me and Ashton?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah. You two seem quite close. People say you spend a lot of time together. I thought maybe... you know."

He let his sentence fade, but his tone was heavy with implication, as was his expression. But it was only when he said it, that I was struck with a strange thought. Had he asked people about this? And if he had, what were they saying?

"That's just because he and Charlie like to annoy me." I said waving this thought away. "Besides, Ashton's going out with Jasmine."

At this he frowned and glanced at the Aphrodite Cabin.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked dubiously.

"Well, I guess he's not right now." I amended scratching the back of my head a little awkwardly. "But he likes her."

"Well that's good news for me then, isn't it?" he asked slyly and that brought me up short.

I glanced at him a little uncertainly.

Was he saying what I thought he was?

"Too much?" he asked with a laugh, and while most people would have sounded awkward playing off a line like that, he didn't.

I found that instead of being uncomfortable, I grinned too.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright. And I'm glad it was _just Ashton_." He put emphasis on the words, giving me another, interested expression. "When I'd heard you'd needed medical attention I thought the worst."

"I'm fine."

"I can see that." His smile grew, but then became a little self-deprecating. "Which causes this next bit to make me seem a bit dense."

"What do you mean?"

"I got you a get well present." He said a little sheepishly pulling something out of his back pocket and handing it out to me. Apparently, it was his turn to feel awkward because he looked away for a second as if a little embarrassed. "You seem pretty tough. I figured something pretty terrible must have happened and if you were going to be in the infirmary over the next couple of days, you might need something to help you pass the time."

It was a book.

"I know you like to read and this was one of my favorites from back home. Me Mum sent it a couple of months ago."

I glanced at the title. It was a book on modern philosophy.

"Thanks." I said in surprise. "This was really nice of you," I continued feeling a bit evil because I was about to take the wind right out of his sails. "But I've already read it."

His expression fell.

"You're kidding." he said looking a little surprised.

"No, sorry." I said and I was. I felt a little bad. He clearly was trying to be nice and I'd just ruined his plan.

"You're not just saying that to make me go away, are you?" he asked a little suspiciously and I laughed, handing back the book.

"No. And if you want proof, I can tell you the ninth chapter is devoted to moral relativism."

"Alright." He said opening the book, flipping to the ninth chapter, then blinking in apparent surprise. "Look at that."

He glanced at me, clearly amused.

"Did you read the book, or just like, upload it to your mind?"

"There's not much of a difference between those two things when it comes to me."

He laughed and gave me an expression of approval.

"You know I actually believe that. Though I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I've seen how much you read."

"Really?" I asked in shock and he looked a little awkward again.

"Sorry. That's not creepy, is it?"

"I uh," I started uncertainly. I didn't really know what to think. "I didn't really think anyone paid that much attention to me."

If I was honest, I didn't think I was all that interesting to anyone really.

The look he gave me was hard to read, but it was obvious he'd guessed what I'd been thinking.

"I wouldn't be too sure."

I looked at him, a little surprise. What was that supposed to mean?

"Harper!"

I jumped at my name and saw that most everyone had made it back to their cabins by now. Terry was waving at me from our doorway.

"It's almost lights out!" he continued. "Get a move on!"

"I gotta go." I said turning back to James.

"Yeah, I probably should too." He said but he sounded just the slightest bit disappointed. "Though my siblings aren't lighting a fire under me." His expression turned a little curious as he looked over my shoulder at Terry. "Your brothers are a bit pushy, aren't they?"

"It's mostly just Charlie." I said rolling my eyes. "Terry's not too bad. He's the head of the cabin though. Making sure we're in the cabins by curfew is his job. He takes it seriously."

"Ah, well, sorry the book was a bit of let down."

"Don't be." I said quickly. "It was really nice of you. Thanks for checking on me."

"No problem, love." He said it casually, and I wasn't sure if I should challenge him on the term, but before I could decide, he continued and the moment had passed. "I guess next time I'll have to try a bit harder to find something you haven't read."

"Let me know if you find something." I said unable to help a small smile from making it's way to my face.

He looked surprised by this response, but then grinned.

"Yeah. I will."

"I'll see you around James."

"See you Harper."

Very aware of Terry's gaze, I turned and made my way back to the Athena cabin, still not entirely sure what was going on.

I didn't really know James all that well, just that for an older camper, he was relatively new to camp and that he'd become pretty popular since he'd been here. Not that I was surprised really. He was good looking and apparently was starting to make a name for himself in the arena.

'So what does he want with me?' a small voice asked in the back of my head.

"Cutting it a little close don't you think?" Terry asked as I stepped into the cabin. "I thought I was going to have to send Charlie out to chase that guy away from you."

"Terry, if I had wanted to stop talking to James, I would have." I said a little annoyed. "I don't need Charlie to scare off big bad boys."

He frowned, clearly trying to figure out what he wanted to say, but I didn't give him a chance.

I made my way to the girls bunk room, almost smacking into Charlie in the hall.

"There you are." He said rubbing his hair with a towel. Clearly, he'd gone to the showers before coming back to the cabin for the night. "I was starting to worry. How's your head feeling?"

"It's fine." I said with a sigh.

Part of me wanted to snap at him, but knew there wasn't much point. Charlie was always going to worry about me, no matter what happened. He always did. It was just how he was wired. And no amount of frustration or rationalization was going to change that, even if all that had happened was just a bump on the head. It wasn't worth fighting over at the moment.

"I still can't believe that Hermes camper got the flag." He said shaking his head. "Since when is that James guy a major player around here?"

He didn't wait for me to respond, but made his way towards his bunk.

I knew Charlie would be annoyed if he knew James had come to talk to me tonight, but I didn't care. It wasn't any of his business.

I stepped into my room, grabbing my book off the nightstand, but finding it hard to concentrate. By the time the lights went out, I hadn't even made it to the next page.

As I laid down, I couldn't help but think of what James had said, when I'd told him I didn't think other people found me very interesting.

_I wouldn't be too sure._

Was he saying what I thought he was saying? And what was all that he was saying about me and Ashton? Yeah we were friends, but everyone knew about Ashton and Jasmine. Also the fact that he and Charlie were best friends, and Charlie automatically hated anyone who might have the slightest bit of interest in me, not matter who it was. Ashton would never risk his friendship with Charlie, that I was certain of, and James clearly didn't know either boy that well if he thought he would.

'But James doesn't seem to care.' A voice in the back of my mind said quietly.

That was true and it surprised me. Very few people had ever stood up to Charlie when they found out I was his sister, and pretty much no one had wanted to talk to me after he'd gone off on them. But James had.

Did he like me enough to deal with Charlie, or was he just the sort of person who wouldn't let himself be pushed around?

This question occupied my thoughts I pulled my blankets over my shoulder and rolled to my side.

As ridiculous as it sounded, lately it seemed a little impossible that someone might be interested as something other than that girl in the Athena cabin with the books or one of the Davis twins. But with James, it looked as if that might just be a reality, and I wasn't sure what I should do about it.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello all! Hope everyone is staying safe! If any of you have been reading my notes across my stories, you might have noticed a theme in them. My immune system is really weak and I often get very sick, so times are certainly very scary for me with the current situation the world is facing. But on the bright side, since I'm pretty much stuck inside until this all blows over, I've been writing a lot. I've managed to write something like over 40 pages over the past 2-3 days, so hopefully if this pace keeps up I can update a lot more quickly. Hope everyone is ok and you are enjoying the story. As always, thanks for reading/favoriting/following/reviewing. It really helps keep me at it and get back to the keyboard after crazy writing binges and I need to power through creativity blocks.

Hope you like the latest chapter! Stay safe!

~ secrethalfblood

Apov

Friday night was weird. Not least because we'd lost the game of capture the flag, but because somehow James managed to catch Harper after the campfire just at the time Charlie wouldn't spot him.

I wasn't sure if that was intentional or luck, but it did seem shady. I'd been about ready to step in when I'd remembered Aaron's warning about going too far when it came to meddling with Harper's personal life.

As much as I wanted to tell James to get lost, I had a feeling Aaron was right. Charlie was going to annoy her enough about James when he finally caught on, but for now, it was probably better she saw me as neutral territory in case she did want an opinion that wasn't her brother's.

I'd managed to let it go for the time being, but maybe not as well as I thought I had because that night, I had a weird dream.

**_Together they were born... _****_Together they will stay..._**

_I was in a cavern, surrounded by a mass of books and pages that were fluttering in the airspace around me. _

**_Until a lack of caution... _****_Will take one away..._**

_Words echoed in my mind, distant and ringing, but for some reason I couldn't concentrate on them. _

**_The perils will be dreadful... But one they can't escape_****_..._**

**_For in this child's hands... Lies Olympus's fate..._**

They were like water, flowing into my mind and just as quickly skittering away the moment I thought I might be able to make sense of them, leaving nothing but fragments behind.

**_Daughter made by wisdom..._**

_The voice was fading, the words growing softer and softer, but I hardly noticed, too fascinated by my surroundings. _

**_Born of two..._**

_The voice was barely a whisper now and I tried to push it out of my mind as I watched, transfixed as the books darted between stalactites, their shadows flickering over the stone walls._

_"What is this place?" I asked quietly._

**_Unlock the secret…_**

_I was walking along a narrow stone bridge, unable to her the words any longer, but well aware of them in the back of my mind._

_The bridge was elevated over a wide lake with jagged rock features jutting out of the cool, clear water._

_I continued to watch, fascinated as they fluttered back and forth in some sort of systematic chaos. They moved like birds, independently but in the same way all at once, in a massive swarm that seemed to have some sort of swirling order to it. Even if I couldn't quite make sense of it._

_Torches lined the wall, filling the cavern with a soft light, but despite this, and the cool breeze that was running through the place, it didn't seem sinister. I might have been a little confused about where I was, but it didn't feel sinister. If anything, something about this place seemed kind of familiar, but I couldn't explain why._

_The pages of the books ruffled and the water rippled slightly as the breeze picked up. They started swirling faster as the wind pulled at my hair and I looked around._

_Set in the center of the cavern was a small island, which the activity seemed to be centered around._

_I squinted a little, trying to make sense of what I was seeing as slowly, I started to walk towards it. On the island was a solitary figure, sitting between large misshapen rock features that amazingly, seemed to be growing and shifting with the books as they landed and took off._

_I wasn't sure what to make of this, but as I continued walking, the strange sense of familiarity with the place grew. I realized the rock features were actually massive stacks of books, their shape continually changing as books added themselves and detached from the piles._

_I wasn't sure what was going on, but regardless of the weirdness, I didn't feel like I was in any danger. I was wondering if I should test my luck and trying to light the place up a little more, when suddenly, out of nowhere, something propelled itself from the shadows behind me to join swarm._

_The wind around me picked up again, as more of them started darting to the island, as if called to the figure in the middle which had stood._

_Carried by the gust, they joined the vortex that was expanding around the cave. All around me pages littered the air, and I watched in amazement. Bizarre as it might be there was something sort of beautiful about the way it all moved together._

_The closer I got to the island, the better I could see the person this was all centered around. The wind and the chaos started to die down as she extended a hand, reaching for one of the books, the print slowing to a lazy flutter. When she turned to face me, a surge of surprise went through me. _

_"Harper?" I asked confused._

_What was going on?_

_She didn't hear me, too distracted by whatever she'd been looking for to even look up from the text. She sat back in the center of the island. All around her books were open, hovering in front of her just long enough for her to glance at a few of the pages before they fluttered off again._

_I started to jog._

_ "Harper!" I shouted and she looked up from her book, but only vaguely, as if she hadn't even registered what had broken her concentration._

_The island wasn't getting closer. If anything, it was getting farther away._

_Panicked. I started to run, but it only pulled back faster. The whisper was back, it's words more powerful and with them, a sense of unease crept into my mid. _

**_Danger lies before her... _**

_"Harper!"_

**_The moment that they part..._**

_She apparently heard me this time, because she closed the book. But she didn't put it down. _

_She did stand however, and look over her shoulder, eventually turning to face me. But she didn't seem to see me._

_The wind returned, biting and cold as it tore at the pages around me. The movement of the books seemed more unorganized now, almost violent. __As the gusts increased, they buffeted me from one side then the other, almost as if it was trying to throw me off the bridge._

_Suddenly, pages whipped around her, forming a column of print._

_Anxiety, followed by an icy pang fear went through me as a shadow formed within them, then took shape. It stepped out in front her as the whirlwind dispersed, and horror filled me._

_What was he doing here? What was going on?_

_I was hit with another gust that staggered me._

_Moments ago this place had been peaceful, maybe a little disordered, but calm. Now the wind was ripping through books that were crashing into each other and plummeting into the water. Pages were smacking into me leaving cuts that stung._

_I swatted at them like insects and Harper was looking around at the chaos in obvious confusion. She looked worried._

_James reached out, offering her his hand._

_It was then I noticed that the water level was rising._

_I let out a cry of shock as the first stalactite fell. It hit the surface of the lake with a 'crack!' that sent water shooting into the air. The ceiling of the cave was closing in. More of the cavern crashed into the lake, covering the stone in front of me with water making it slick, ink from ragged pages bleeding out onto the bridge._

_Still running, I shouted for Harper, but she didn't hear me. _

_Books were raining from the ceiling, and torches along the walls were being snuffed out. The bridge was cracking and she watched it all looking slightly dazed, as if she had quite processed what was happening._

_James put a hand on her shoulder, and out of all the things hitting the fan at the moment, this was what worried me the most. She looked back at him, away from the destruction, the book she'd been reading falling open in her hands._

_The water had reached the bridge now and I could hear my footsteps splashing as I ran, getting nowhere. Within a matter of seconds, it had reached my ankles._

_James took the book from Harper and set it on one of the piles of books. There was a dark flash as one by one, they moved in unison, restructuring themselves and constructing an arch way._

_The water had passed my knees know and I felt as if the more water that covered me, the more like concrete it became. Everything was slowing down, and I knew if I was in it for much longer, it would crush me._

_The cave was going dark as the last few torches battled the gale to stay lit. James was walking up steps the piles of books were creating, which, I realized with a sinking feeling, was the only way out._

_He turned when he realized Harper hadn't followed him._

_He leaned back, once again extending a hand for her to take, but she hesitated._

_The water was at my chest now, and I felt it dragging me down._

_Everything was going dark and cold, and I was desperate for light. I reached out, beams igniting in my palm, their glow growing and spreading through the cavern._

_Harper stopped._

_The last thing I saw as the water dragged me under, was Harper, turning towards the light, recognition in her eyes as the voice's words bore into my mind._

**_Careful those who love her... _****_Of these words take heed..._**

**_Or she might be forever lost... _****_Because of one boy's greed..._**

I bolted up right, throwing off my blankets and gasping for air.

"You ok, Ash?" Zack asked as I stared, wide eyed, around the room.

Sunlight was beaming in through the window, and a few of my brothers were shuffling through the bunkroom, grabbing things out of their trunks and putting on their shoes.

It took several heart pounding moments of forcing my breathing to calm to realize that it was morning. It had all been a dream.

"Ash?"

I blinked.

"Yeah, sorry." I said shaking my head. I felt groggy. It had felt so real. I couldn't get it out of my mind.

"You prophesizing over there?"

This question was asked by Pete, the only brother who was older than me in the cabin.

Like the rest of us, he had our father's blonde hair, but his eyes were dark, almost black.

"No." I said letting out a breath and running my hands through my hair. Children of Apollo, though not oracles, sometimes were given glimpses of the future on the count of our father and his relationship with them. But I'd never been all that attuned to augury. It was one of our father's talents that I'd never really had a knack for. "Just a bad dream."

I noticed a couple of glances in my direction, some of them wary, but no one said anything which I was grateful for.

I rubbed the back of my neck and got out of bed, hoping to avoid people's eye as I tried to figure out whatever the Hades that dream had been about. I was already forgetting the details, the words the voice had been saying and why'd they'd felt so important. All I really remembered was that it had involved Harper, and that James guy, who I found myself liking less and less by the day.

'It's no big deal.' I thought uncertainly as I sorted through my clothes. 'It probably didn't mean anything.'

Still, even if I had thought it had I wasn't sure I would have said anything. Charlie was always so touchy when it came to Harper. The last thing I needed was a rumor that his best friend was having dreams about her.

A surge of dread went through me at notion. Gods, even thinking about that was a nightmare...

Deciding to put it out of my mind, I got ready for the day trying to focus on other things.

It didn't work very well. Most of the morning I was distracted. I was late for breakfast, and just barely made it to the archery lesson I was supposed to be teaching on time. Even then I'd given a poor girl from the Iris cabin the wrong sized bow and hadn't noticed until fifteen minutes later, when she was still struggling to pull back the string.

I just kept thinking about the dream. Something about it was bothering me, but I didn't feel like I could tell anyone with out it getting back to Charlie, which was the last thing I wanted.

It wasn't until I found myself sitting at a table with Jasmine, Annie, Charlie, and a couple of our other friends that I really came back to the present. And when I did, the awakening wasn't kind.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked as I stared at the letter, my mother's clipped, but furious words practically jumping at me from off the page.

"You look like someone died."

This was from Jasmine, but I couldn't take my eyes away from the page to look at her.

"I failed the chem final." I said quietly horror creeping through me as the information started to sink in.

"_What_?" Charlie asked in horror and I glanced up just in time to see him snatch the letter from my hands.

"How?" Annie asked looking dumbfounded. "Charlie told me you guys studied for that test for weeks."

"I dunno." I muttered feeling humiliated, wishing they'd all look away. "I always hated Mr. Barrow."

"He wasn't that bad." Charlie said halfheartedly but I grimaced.

Our chemistry teacher had been older than time itself, and if it were possible, had hated me for longer than that. He never wanted to help me, even when I offered to stay after class. He made me feel stupid when he talked to me, and had been petty and rude. I didn't know what was worse, the passive aggressive comments he made when he returned my homework or quizzes, or the look of genuine surprise that would cross his features the few times I actually got a question right in class. As if he hadn't thought it was possible for me to learn.

Not that Charlie had ever understood this. Mr. Barrow had loved Charlie. He always made extra time to talk to him in class, and constantly complimented his test scores. But if Mr. Barrow didn't like you, he made you feel like crap, or like you weren't worth teaching or his time.

I wasn't alone though. Harper had hated him too, and we'd spent what was probably hours over the school year complaining to each other about him whenever he managed to set one of us. Despite her good grades, it was fairly obvious to everyone that Mr. Barrow was 'an old fashion guy', which was the staff's polite way of putting off the fact that he barely managed hold back most of what was pretty blatant sexism. It was clear at the start of the semester, he didn't expect much from the girls in his classes, and while he'd eventually grown to like Harper when he'd seen how smart she was, she wasn't putting up with his crap. She might have disliked him more than I did. And that was saying something.

"So what does that mean?" Jasmine asked, breaking me from this bitter line of thought and I forced myself to make eye contact.

She seemed worried, but not nearly as much as I was.

I knew my grades weren't perfect, and school had always been a bit of a struggle for me, but failing? This was a new low, even for me.

"Are they going to let you take it again?" Charlie asked his eyes flying over the letter, as he tried to catch up to speed.

"My Mom says she's going to call the school and see what we can do." I said quietly, shame burning through me like poison.

What if they didn't let me retake the final? Did that mean I had to retake the class? Or would they simply kick me out? They'd kicked kids out for grades before…

It was at this point, in the midst of this thought spiral, I felt the weight of someone's gaze.

I glanced up across the room full of campers to see Harper, sitting with her friends. She was looking at me, her expression concerned.

I turned away and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Think they're going to let you play on the team next year if you can't retake it?" Charlie asked and a twinge of incredulity went through me, even through all the embarrassment.

He was thinking about basketball right now? Really?

"Forget the team." I said quietly. "What if they don't let me come back?"

Gods, what was I going to do? I loved going to school with Harper and Charlie, it was honestly probably the only reason I'd managed not to fail a class before now, but our school was academically oriented. I might have been one of their athletes, but they put a high emphasis on grades, and I'd been warned about them before.

"Your mom doesn't seem to happy." Charlie muttered putting the letter down gingerly, as if it were going to bite him and knowing my mother, it just might have so she could make her point.

"She's never happy." I muttered.

My mother was a top-class surgeon, and a classically trained musician. There were no excuses in her mind, especially when it came to school, and I was pretty sure she only put up with sports because it was something I excelled at. It wasn't because she particularly proud of me or anything like that. I had a feeling she just didn't have it in her not to cultivate talent. Probably because she was so used to being brilliant at everything, it was the only thing she could really relate to.

"Hopefully they'll let you retake it." Jasmine said looking worried, but trying to shoot me a reassuring smile. "I'm sure it will work out."

Her tone was sympathetic, but it didn't make me feel any better.

"Yeah." I said dismally looking at my hands, wishing they'd all stop looking at me.

I was mortified. I knew demigods often had trouble in school, but Jasmine never did. For Hades sake, my best friend and his sister were part of the genius kids at camp, tied for top of the class. How could I be so stupid? How could I spend all my time around some of the smartest people I'd ever met and still fail?

"You ok over there sunshine?"

I looked up to see James, who'd been sitting further down the tables our group of friends had been sitting at. He'd been on the fringe of the seats near Chase, but Charlie and I had been ignoring him. It looked as if he'd been on his way out and was using the opportunity to engage.

I'd noticed he didn't have mail, in fact, I wasn't sure I'd seen him receive any letters since he'd started here now that I thought about it, but he didn't seem bothered. He normally just talked to people during letter writing.

"I'm fine." I said shortly and his eyes darted to the letter sitting on the table between Charlie and I.

"Having a little academic trouble?"

"What's it to you?" I muttered trying to sound unconcerned, but certain I was failing.

Charlie's eyes narrowed. After talking to Harper, James was on Charlie's radar, or maybe his shit list.

"That's really none of your business dude." He said darkly and James shrugged.

"Just trying to see if I could help. No need to be so hostile. Besides," his eyes drifted to Charlie and he grinned. "It isn't the end of the world. It's not like you don't know people who could help you in this situation." The grin grew a little arrogant, and he shot me what was clearly supposed to be a significant expression. "Though, one might be much prettier to look at than the other."

"You have about ten seconds to walk away before you get your ass kicked." Charlie growled, his fingers curling into a fist around the pen he'd been writing with.

"Charlie." Annie said her eyes going wide, warning in her tone but James just laughed.

"Whatever."

He walked away still looking amused while I sat there, feeling pretty terrible.

"I hate that guy." Charlie muttered as Annie put a hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to calm down.

"I dunno," Jasmine said with a shrug, her eyes following James as he left the room. "He seems ok. He's done a lot for the camp while you guys have been away."

"Doesn't make him not an ass." Charlie grumbled darkly. "And what was that about calling Harper pretty? Is he _trying_ to irritate me or something?"

"Maybe because she _is_ pretty?" Annie asked sounding a little irritated at this, but Charlie didn't seem to want to hear it.

"It's not a crime to recognize that you know." She continued and he looked a little uncomfortable.

"Of course not." He admitted, clearly back tracking a little when he caught her expression, but he still looked a little disgruntled. "But he doesn't have to rub it in my face. I know my sister is cute."

A strange instinct flared within me, wanting to point out to Charlie that Harper was a lot more than just 'cute', but it was immediately strangled by my sense of self preservation. Telling Charlie that his sister was attractive, was about as intelligent as writing 'monster chow' on your shirt then walking into a pit of drakons. Besides, it sounded like the girls had the remonstrations covered.

"Why does he have to be rubbing it in your face?" Jasmine challenged crossing her arms over her chest. "It's not like he was being disrespectful."

"He was to me."

I saw Jasmine and Annie give each other the same sort of look, as if they were willing each other the patience not to strangle Charlie.

"Harper is her own person outside of you you know." Annie said in exasperation. "What does what he thinks of her have anything to do with you?"

"Let's just change the subject," Charlie said a little uneasily, clearly realizing by their expressions that he was in dangerous territory with the girls.

He turned back to me.

"Your mom said she was talking to the school right? Maybe they'll work something out with Mr. Barrow." He shrugged. "I guess there's nothing we can do now but wait until we hear from her."

"Yeah." I said quietly. "I guess we'll see."

I wanted to remind Charlie it was a lot easier for him to say that and I was the one who had to worry, but I didn't bother. What good would it have done?

Instead, I glanced over to Harper, who, despite the noise of the campers between us, laughing as they wrote their letters and talking to their friends, seemed to notice.

She looked up from the envelope she'd been addressing and raised an eyebrow, but not in the expectant, sometimes sarcastic way I was used to from her. The question was evident.

'Everything alright?'

I shrugged a little half-heartedly and she appeared to think for a second, then held up her hand, signing a string of numbers for me to see.

2-4-2-4

The gesture was so familiar to me, there was no question in my mind what they meant. I must have seen her do it a hundred times.

Four words.

Two letters, four letters. Repeat.

_'It will be okay.' _

It was one of the few things I shared with Harper that had nothing to do with her brother, and I couldn't help it. I smiled.

This was something she'd always say when I was stressed doing school work or studying for exams. No matter what, in the end, it will all be ok.

It had been shortened eventually, and adopted into the hand signal during moments of stress when we couldn't talk. Whenever I hit a hard question on a test and started to panic, if I was in a class I had with Harper, I would look at her desk and it was like she could sense it. She wouldn't look up from her papers, but either next to or behind her chair, depending on where we were seated, she'd sign it.

2-4-2-4

_'It will be okay.'_

And she was right. It always was. Even if I didn't know the answer, it helped me calm down and focus on the rest of the questions I could answer. She'd even started doing it during basketball games if we were losing and it was starting to affect my mental game. She always helped.

Harper didn't know why I was upset, but it didn't seem to matter and of me wondered vaguely that if I wanted to feel better, I might have been sitting next to the wrong Davis twin. Maybe if she'd been in my chemistry class last semester instead of Charlie, I wouldn't have failed the final.

I nodded and quickly sent back my usual response.

1-4

_'I know.'_

She smiled then turned back to her letter.

Her friends hadn't noticed and when I glanced at Charlie, I was a little relieved to see he was looking a picture Annie had been showing him. Apparently mine hadn't either.

At least, that's what I'd thought.

My eyes met with Jasmine's, who by her expression, was clearly waiting for an explanation for what I'd just done.

"It's a long story." I said, though it wasn't.

I wouldn't have been hard to explain to Jasmine what the gesture had meant, or why it was so significant, but I found myself reluctant. I wasn't exactly sure why either.

All I knew was that this was something between Harper and me. It was why it worked. Because she was the one that always made me felt better no matter the situation. It wouldn't work with anyone else, and I didn't want them to try.

"I see." she said quietly.

But it was obvious she didn't, and not for the first time I wondered if it bothered her more than she was saying.

Automatically, I glanced at Harper, wondering if I should explain just on the off chance things might get sorted out between Jasmine and I and go back to the way they were. I knew Harper probably wouldn't care, but I was surprised by how much I did.

It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity as I debated this to myself. Should I explain? And if I did, what would she think? Would she tell Charlie? And if she did, would he care? I mean... He shouldn't, right? But maybe he would wonder why I hadn't told him about it. Then again, it wasn't a big deal, so maybe it really wasn't worth mentioning.

But if it wasn't a big deal, why did it matter so much to me?

Guilt flooded through me. I didn't like the thought of keeping something from Charlie, or Jasmine for that matter. But it wasn't like it was a secret. It was just... our thing.

Harper didn't look up from her letter. She didn't have to. Just like at school it was as if she could feel that I was struggling, and like always, she knew what to do.

_'It will be okay'_


	6. Chapter 6

Hello all! Hope you like the latest chapter! Thank you for the reviews!

~secrethalfblood

Hpov

I wanted to ask Ash why he looked so upset during letter writing but I never got the chance. Normally, I wouldn't have worried too much about this. Ashton didn't always get along great with his mother, and it wasn't the first time he'd looked upset while reading one of her letters. But the fact Charlie had looked worried as well made me a little concerned.

I couldn't dwell on it much though. I had other things to focus on.

"Don't touch that!" Allison said quickly as Tamera picked up a heavy object from the workbench she'd been sitting next to. "Are you trying to blow us up?"

The hunk of mental covered in wires and dials, and looked like something out of steampunk video game.

The three of us were behind the Hephaestus cabin during free time, working on our chariot on the off chance the race was actually going to happen this summer.

"What is it?" I asked with interest, looking up from the schematics I'd been studying.

"It's part of the chariot's weapon system." Allison explained, gingerly taking the device from Tamera and slowly setting it back on the bench. "If I can get it working, it should incinerate anything that gets too close to the chariot. But I haven't calibrated all the sensors on it." She gave us a meaningful look. "One wrong move and this thing goes nuclear."

"Yeah, that's super bad ass and all." Tamera said giving the contraption an appreciative glance as Allison ducked under the chariot again. "But what about the wheels?"

Allison threw a bolt at Tamera that had surprising accuracy considering she couldn't see her from under the floor panel. She'd been tinkering with the brakes all afternoon, however, I wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to get them to do.

"What?" Tamera asked defensively and Allison made an irritated noise.

"I'm surprised." I said glancing at Tamera with half a smile. "I figured you of all people would like our chariot to be able to incinerate things."

"Fire power is great," She conceded, then scowled. "But it won't do us any good if we can't move the damn thing. Which is _exactly_ what happened last year."

Allison pushed herself out from under the chariot and glowered at Tamera. There was a smudge of grease on her nose.

"I'll fix the wheel design, but I want to get this done first."

"What are you doing anyways?" I asked as she pulled herself back to her task.

"I'm trying to improve the locking system." She explained holding out a hand expectantly.

Tamera grabbed one of the wrenches and placed it in her palm.

"We took this thing for a test ride the day before you got here." Her voice was muffled by the wood and a little hard to hear, but she continued nonetheless. "It was jerking pretty bad when we made a couple of hard stops. I don't want it to take damage if you guys need to emergency break during the race."

"Then the wheels." Tamera griped and Allison sighed.

"Yes Tammy," she answered, clearly doing her best to be patient. "Then the wheels."

I grinned a little, able to picture Allison roll her eyes as she'd replied.

"Good. Because I sure as Olympus am not going to lose to your brother again this year." She said glowering at me. "Or his hot shot archer friend."

"Uhg, can we not talk about Charlie?" I asked feeling a sure of irritation go through me.

He'd been more insufferable than usual lately, probably because James, the camper from the Hermes cabin, kept talking to me every time we ran into each other. It seemed to happen a lot.

I frowned as I thought about the situation.

It was weird. I'd never had anyone so determined to talk to me, unless you counted Ashton. And that generally was because he wanted to mess with me.

"Can I ask you guys something?"

"What is it?" Tamera asked me while Allison said. "Uh huh."

"What do you guys think about James?"

At this, Allison pushed herself out from under the chariot again, and surprisingly, sat up.

"The British guy?" Allison asked and Tamera looked pissed.

"What, that kid from Cabin 11?"

"Yeah." I nodded wondering why Tamera seemed so annoyed.

"Don't know much about him." Allison said with a shrug then after a moment, offering. "He's cute."

"I don't like him." Tamera said flatly.

"Why not?" Allison and I asked in unison, both turning to look at her.

"The guy is weird." She said crossing her arms over her chest, her scowl deepening. "First off, why did it take him so long to get here?"

"Probably because he had to cross an ocean." Allison said sarcastically and Tamera shot her a look that was surprisingly serious.

"I'm not buying it." she said darkly. "Younger kids have come from all over. It's not like it used to be in the past. Our parents almost always help us find this place."

This was true. The camp had grown in the past several years, after the gods had been forced to claim their children in the mortal world. While it wasn't exactly the norm to see a campers from other countries these days, it wasn't exactly rare anymore. The gods were supposed to claim them before they turned thirteen. James had been much older than that by the time he turned up.

"And remember how it was when he first got here?" She asked, reclaiming my attention. "He could sort of swing a sword, but he wasn't anything special. Then what? He just gets brilliant in the arena all of the sudden? No one's that good, not even one of us."

She gestured towards herself and I knew she meant the Ares children, who tended to dominate in combat related activities on account of their father.

"He went on _one_ mission before people started talking about him like he was some sort of damn prodigy. And he managed to get separated from his team." She raised an eyebrow. "Next thing we know, he's saying he killed a hydra and brought back one of it's fangs for proof." She scoffed. "Don't you think it's weird no one else noticed a hydra running around?"

"You don't think he killed it?" I asked a little surprise and she laughed stiffly.

"Absolutely not." She said her tone filled with a callous distain. "And certainly not by himself if he did manage to run into one."

"Then how'd he get the fang?" Allison asked curiously and Tamera shrugged.

"I dunno," she admitted, looking as if she didn't want to. "Could have found it. Could have gotten it from someone else."

While she made a few decent points, this, I had to admit, sounded weird.

"Why would someone give him a fang from a hydra?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head.

"No clue. All I know is that I trained that kid when he first got here. He couldn't have faced a gorgon by himself let alone a hydra. He would have been monster chow." She let out another terse laugh. "Chiron didn't even want to send him on that mission. He asked me if I thought he was ready and I said no." Her arms tightened over her chest and her expression was ominous. "I don't know what James said to Chiron convince him, but I don't think it was a coincidence he got separated from his mission." She gave us a meaningful expression. "If you ask me, that guy was trying to get out of camp. I mean, don't you think it's a little weird he gets separated?" she raised an eyebrow. "It shouldn't have happened. It was a routine retrieval mission, and it was his first. His team should have been keeping a really close eye on him to make sure he didn't get hurt. Then suddenly he's back and start's showing all this talent?"

"Yeah." I said frowning. "That is strange."

"Why are you asking about him anyways?" Allison asked curiously, looking at me and I blinked. I'd been so interested in Tamera's theories, I'd almost forgotten why I'd broached the subject.

"Is he bothering you?" Tamera asked eagerly, and I could tell she was just itching for a reason to poke him with a variety of weapons.

"Not really." I said which was true.

Ever since he'd introduced himself after the pick-up game, James had seemed to be making a point of talking to me every time we ran into each other, but I wouldn't have said it was bothering me... In fact, I hadn't really noticed it at first, but it just kept happening.

"I think he's trying to flirt with me." I said uncertainly, wondering if I was reading too much into the situation.

He kept asking me about books and what I'd read, and what literature we had around camp. It was weird because he seemed really interested in the answer to these questions. I didn't think that had ever really happened before. Certainly not to this extent.

"What does Charlie think about that?" Allison asked, half a grin forming on her face. "He try to kill him?"

"I'm sure it's crossed his mind." I said rolling my eyes. "But I can deal with Charlie."

Besides, it didn't seem like James was intimidated by him at all.

"Well if anyone gets to have a go at that punk it's me." Tamera said gruffly. "The guy is arrogant, never paid attention in training." Unexpectedly, she took a dagger out of her belt and stuck it forcefully into the work bench next to me. "He annoyed me."

"Watch the schematics!" Allison said as I pulled the papers away from the dagger.

"I think you should stay away him." Tamera continued resolutely, ignoring Allison's warning. "I know Charlie's a bit of a pill sometimes, but I think his instinct is right about this one."

She stood and glanced at her watch.

"I gotta get going. I'm supposed to check inventory in the armory." She glanced at us. "What are you guys up to?"

"I'm staying here." Allison said gesturing towards the chariot. "I traded my dessert this week to get my chores covered. I want to keep working."

"I'm off to Greek lessons."

I always led at least one of the language lessons every break. It wasn't my favorite thing to do at camp, but it was pretty easy and I could read for parts of it if the students didn't have too many questions.

"Alright, well I'll see you guys later." Tamera grabbed her dagger off the work bench, then looked at Allison. "Don't forget the wheels."

Allison rolled her eyes but didn't respond. Instead, she waved as I rolled up the schematics and handed them to her.

I made my way towards the Big House, deliberating which part of the lesson I should tackle first with the new campers when I felt the weight of someone's gaze.

"Speak of the devil." I muttered.

James was exiting the Arena with Chase and a couple of his friends.

He grinned when he saw that I'd noticed him, nodded to his friends, then jogged to catch up to me.

"Hey." He said stopping a few feet short as he beamed at me, but for some reason, it made me feel a little uneasy.

"Hi."

"I was hoping to run in to you today."

"You were?" I asked in surprise and he smiled.

"Yeah."

As he spoke, I couldn't help but remember what Allison had said, about James being cute, but also not knowing much about him. I was also thinking about what Tamera had said, about how she didn't trust him. It seemed at odds with how most of the camp saw him, but I trusted Tamera's instincts. She might have been blunt, and it might have made her a few enemies, but she could see insincerity coming a mile away. If she said something was off, I knew I'd have to be cautious.

"I've got another book for you," he continued then, looking a little sheepish, added. "Hopefully something you haven't read this time."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." His grin grew. "I don't have it on me, but maybe we could meet up later?"

I hesitated, a little unsure.

I didn't know James very well. Charlie clearly didn't like him, which wasn't that surprising considering Charlie didn't like any boy within a ten foot radius of me, but Tamera was a different story. She usually didn't care about people all that much, unless they were her friend or were in weapon range. Maybe both.

"Something wrong?" he asked his smile fading a little.

I didn't answer immediately, still thinking, mostly because there didn't seem to be anything particularly wrong with James. I didn't really care what Charlie thought, and despite her intuition, Tamera tended to judge people a little too quickly sometimes, especially if they manage to offend her in the Arena. It was why there was a lot of names on the list of people she didn't like, and who didn't like her. Most of the camp seemed to like James though. That, or like Allison, didn't seem to have any reason not to.

"Your brother didn't get to you did he?" James asked looking a little disappointed, and I was surprised by the comment.

It was like he'd known what I was thinking.

"No." I said automatically, because the thought of making decisions based on Charlie's reaction was repellant. "No," I repeated shaking my head and smiling to cover the awkward moment. "Sure, where do you want to meet?"

What was the worst the worst that could happen? It was just a book right? Besides, I was sort of curious as to what he was thinking of suggesting…

"A couple of friends and I are meeting back in the arena after dinner for target practice. We can meet then, maybe you can show me a thing or two with a bow?"

His expression was playful, but I felt my stomach sink. I looked away, instantly wanting the conversation to come to an end.

"I dunno." I said avoiding his eye, trying not to sound embarrassed but feeling my cheeks flush slightly anyways. "Archery isn't really my thing."

"Really?" he asked with what sounded like genuine surprise in his tone. "Even with your brother being friends with who he is?"

I glanced up at him to see one of his eyebrows shot up.

"I figured you'd be better than most people, you know, apart from the Apollo kids."

"Yeah, well it's probably in spite of that." I said crossing my arms over my chest, my words prickly. "I don't like being judged according to Charlie."

Maybe Tamera was right about this guy...

"C'mon Harper." He said sounding a little amused. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

His smile had returned and despite my annoyed expression, but this time however, it was something close to a smirk.

"I'm well aware you're not your brother." He continued his tone heavy with implication. "I just figured a girl as smart as you would take advantage of the talent around you to better herself. Not let her pride get in the way of learning from someone who could teach her."

I looked at him feeling stubborn. He was flirting with me, right? If he was, shouldn't he be trying to get me to like him? Not irritating me about my brother.

"You don't know me hardly at all." I said flatly, but he didn't seem intimidated.

"You're right." he agreed with a shrug. "But I'd like to."

I shot him a calculating look, the same look Ashton had told me only daughters of Athena could manage, and would send most boys running. It didn't seem to bother James however.

He simply waited for my response looking as if he knew he was irritating me. It was the sort of expression Ashton constantly wore. It was surprising, and I didn't know if I wanted to laugh, or smack him upside the back of the head.

"You might have a point." I admitted grudgingly, uncrossing my arms in defeat. "A little target practice wouldn't kill me."

"Probably not." He agreed, but his expression softened. "But we don't have to press the issue. Why don't we meet before dinner?" he suggested and I felt a little relieved. "I can tell you about it on the way to the pavilion?"

"Alright." I agreed with a nod.

People were passing by us now, on their way to their next activity and while I knew we had to get going, for some reason I didn't want to leave just yet. Even if I knew we were starting to attract a bit of attention.

Part of me wondered how long it would take for comments about this conversation to make their way to Charlie.

"So where are you headed?" he asked curiously and I wondered if he was about to offer to walk me to my next activity.

"The Big House." I said gesturing over my shoulder towards it. "New campers aren't going to teach Greek to themselves."

"Probably not." He said with slight grin. "I imagine you can do that in your sleep though. Do you even remember teaching me?"

I blinked.

Had I tutored him in Greek?

I mean, it made sense. I was teaching language lessons when he first got here, but I wasn't the only one. I honestly couldn't remember.

"Guess not." He said with a slight chuckle. "But I'm not surprised. You were reading for a lot of it, then again, they probably have a lot of good stuff squirreled away in the Big House."

"You could see for yourself." I pointed out.

I noticed whenever he wanted to talk to me, he always seemed to want to talk about the things I was reading, or had read. Maybe he was just looking for a talking point, it was a pretty obvious one with me, still, it was starting to seem a bit weird.

"Why would I?" he asked playfully, and the smirk had returned. "When I can just ask you?"

I laughed a little thinking he was kidding, but it cut short when I realized there was a part of him that didn't seem to be joking.

Was he serious?

From talking to him, I had thought James was a reader. But this statement was odd. That and all the questions made me wonder if he was looking for something. Or was I just being overly suspicious?

Maybe I was letting Tamera and Charlie get to me.

I couldn't read his expression, but it had changed. He looked a little uncertain himself. It was almost as if he'd sensed the shift in my thinking, and was determined not to give anything away.

"I'll see you around Harper." He said with a final smile, then started to follow his friends to his next activity.

"Uh, alright." I said a little surprised by the abrupt ending to the conversation. "Bye."

He nodded and I watched him walk away, a little perplexed.

"That was weird," I muttered to myself.

Not really sure what to think, I made my way to the Big House.

'Confusing or not, the conversation with James hadn't been a total waste.' I thought glancing up at the sky above me. Clouds drifted across it and while I didn't look at the sun, I was well aware of it's rays shining down on me. They were warm, and it felt like Ashton was standing right next to me. Sunny days usually did. And while I'd never admit to it, I found it comforting.

As much as we liked to tease each other, Ashton was my friend and it was James's comment about him that had stuck with me as I continued to walk.

Maybe James was right. Maybe I had let my pride get in the way of letting Ashton help me with something I struggled with. I wasn't exactly sure why either.

Ashton was the best shot in camp, and he was everyone's preferred instructor when it came to archery lessons. Still... I'd hated when he'd tried to help me. I always felt frustrated when he'd give me pointers and they didn't immediately work out. Frustrated, and embarrassed, and flustered, and I didn't know why. All I knew, was that as Charlie's best friend, Ashton already had a million and one reasons to not take me seriously. To perpetually categorize me as Charlie's dorky 'little' sister. I didn't need to give him anymore more, especially when it was with something that came so naturally to him.

I winced as I thought the word 'little', a feeling of disappointment creeping through me.

Even if we were the same age, and I knew he would never say it out loud, I knew it was what Ashton thought. Charlie's little sister. Bambi. The adorkable little Athena kid he felt the need to remind to eat when she was oh so ridiculously lost in her books, or was always dragged to their basketball tournaments. Who wasn't remarkable at anything really, unlike his crazy beautiful girlfriend, or his talented best friend and teammates. Or just him. Rare powers, a star athlete, musical ability, and all the other reasons why everybody who met him loved him.

It wasn't that I was jealous of Ashton really, or my brother. I liked myself, and I knew I was happier doing my thing than I ever would be trying to fit in with their friends, but still... It might have been nice to be recognized as something apart from being the 'other' Davis twin. I wasn't really good at anything, not compared to the rest of the people at camp, unless you counted a knack for remembering the contents of almost every single thing I had read. But no one cared about that. Not really. And thought of struggling with a bow in front of Ashton sounded like torture. Just another thing to show just how unremarkable of a demigod I really was.

I shook my head, trying to banish this thought, not even sure why I cared really.

I reached the Big House and was just about to step onto the porch when I heard my name called.

"Harper!"

I turned to see Charlie running in my direction, looking a little frantic.

"What's up?" I asked as he stopped, panting, in front of me, leaning over to rest his hands on his knees as he regained his breath.

I felt my eyes go a little wider.

"Are you ok?" I asked in alarm, but he waved away my concern, still breathing hard.

What on Olympus was so important he'd apparently sprinted the whole way here?

"Thank Gods I caught up to you." he said ignoring the question. "Look, I need your help."

"With what?"

"It's Ash, he failed his chem final."

"What?" I asked in horror, but I didn't have time to fully react before he was already cutting me off.

"But his Mom just called. He passed the class. She talked to the school and they're letting him retake the final."

"That's good." I said in relief, feeling a knot of tension I hadn't realized had settled in me release.

This must have been what Ashton had been so upset about the other day during letter writing time, but that didn't explain what that had to do with me.

"When is the retake?"

"At the end of the summer." Charlie explained straightening up and looking at me. "That's why we need your help."

I felt myself frown, a little confused.

"What do you mean?"

"We need to do crash course in chemistry." He said. "They're testing him from material from all over the year. There's no way he can cover it all himself. He needs a tutor."

A jolt of shock went through me.

"Why don't you do it?" I asked automatically and he looked at me as if I was insane.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked and I felt stupid for even suggesting it.

Charlie couldn't teach his way out of a paper bag, and I'd tutored Ashton before.

"The whole year?" I asked uncertainly. That was a lot of material and not a lot of time. That didn't even account for all the camp activities we'd have to study around.

"Look, I know it's a lot, but you get how he thinks." he said a hint of pleading in his tone. "If anyone could do it, it would be you."

From his expression, it was obvious he was worried. I could tell he was afraid there was a real possibility he might not be going to school with his best friend next year.

"What do you say Harps?" he asked. "You going to help us out?"

"Alright." I said said with a nod and he smiled. "Alright, I'll help. But on one condition."

"What?" He asked, and he looked nervous.

I glanced up at the sky, thinking about what James had said.

"If I agree to help Ash with Chemistry," I continued, then closed my eyes, not wanting to say the next few words, but forcing them out anyways. "He has to help me with archery."


	7. Chapter 7

Apov

I pulled back the arrow, focusing on the target as I took in a breath, then let go.

As usual, the arrow hit dead center as I knew it would. I exhaled, with a hint of dejection, not feeling the sense of satisfaction that a bullseye usually brought me.

I could have done this in my sleep, and it wasn't getting my mother's words out of my mind.

_'I'm very disappointed. You should have done better.'_

She was right of course. There wasn't really an excuse for failing a chemistry final, even if I was dyslexic, ADHD, and the teacher hated me. Harper and Charlie both had the challenges of being a demigod, and they'd never failed anything. Considering there had been bonus questions at the end of that exam, they'd probably scored over a hundred percent.

I fired another three arrows in rapid succession, each burying themselves into the target with more force than the one before it.

'Gods I _hated_ it when she said that.' I thought bitterly taking aim and firing another shot.

Disappointed. It seemed like that was all she said lately, that she was 'disappointed'.

'When she had time to call at all.' I thought a little bitterly, then immediately felt guilty.

I knew I shouldn't think like that. My mom's job was important and she was really good at what she did. She saved lives, and so did all the people she surrounded herself with.

But still... she was always away lately, blowing people away with her life saving operations that defied all odds.

I sighed and shook my head.

I guess I didn't blame her for being so hard on me. It must have been difficult to be impressed by anything when you were constantly around the best. It must have been even harder to be proud of a son, when most of the things he did was mediocre. And the few things I was good at, she didn't hold a lot of value in.

"You alright Ash?" an anxious voice asked, and I looked over my shoulder to see Jasmine and her sister Annie, Charlie's girlfriend, as well as their brother Aaron, walking past the archery fields on the way back to their cabin.

"Fine." I said automatically and they glanced at each other, clearly not believing it.

"You sure?" Annie asked uncertainly and I nodded.

"Can you guys give us a second?" Jasmine asked, looking at her siblings who nodded and I let out another sigh, honestly not wanting to talk to Jasmine about this at all.

"Seriously Jas, I'm fine." I protested, but she wasn't having it.

She waited until her siblings left at least, before calling me out.

"You don't seem fine." Jasmine pressed walking towards me and I looked back at the target without answering.

"Is this about what your mom sent?" she asked. "In her last letter?"

"I don't want to talk about it Jas." I said quietly.

She didn't give up.

"Seems like you might need to." She pointed out.

I knew Jasmine wanted to help, but honestly, she was the least likely person to make me feel better about the situation. Well except my mother maybe. But I rarely wanted to talk to my mother about anything.

Jasmine was different though. As much as I liked her, she was the definition of the 'it girl' at camp. Or anywhere she went really. She was gorgeous and popular and everyone loved her. I knew she did well in school, and the fact that she knew I failed my final was humiliating. I didn't need to embarrass myself in front of her even more by whining about it. What good would it do? Especially when I was certain there were plenty of smart guys who were just as good as I was as sports, and better than I was at pretty much everything else that were after her. Complaining to her would just make me seem even worse in comparison. In fact, there were times where I wondered why she'd ever gone out with me at all. Then again, seeing what had happened, maybe she'd made the right call in not getting back together with me.

"I'm fine Jas, really." I said shooting another arrow then giving her a smile hoping she'd believe it. "It's all getting worked out."

At this she looked a little surprised.

"It is?"

"Yeah," I assured her. "The school's letting me do a retake. Bambi's going to help me study."

I'd said the name automatically and almost winced as it came out. I wasn't exactly sure why, but I figured Harper's nickname probably wasn't something to say front of Jasmine.

I knew I was right when I saw the uncertainty flash across her expression.

"That's what you call Charlie's little sister, right?" she asked carefully.

"Well, twin." I corrected automatically, but I had a feeling the semantics didn't really matter to her all that much. "And yeah."

That was another thing I couldn't quite believe. Not that Harper had agreed to tutor me, she'd done that a lot. But that her condition for doing it was that I had to help her get better at archery. As if that hadn't been a disaster before.

"I'm surprised he doesn't get irritated by that nickname." She said quietly, crossing her arms over her chest, breaking the awkward moment that had passed between us that neither wanted to seem to acknowledge.

Jasmine had never really been the jealous sort, I mean, looking the way she did, she never had to be, but recently when we'd been dating, I'd noticed how much I really talked about Harper around her. Even more obvious, was how quiet she got when I did.

I didn't think Jasmine was threatened by Harper, not really anyways, but it must have been a little uncomfortable. I spent a lot of time with Charlie's sister, and unlike Annie, Jasmine hadn't really made a point of getting to know Harper. She wasn't my sister after all.

Not really knowing what to do, I turned my attention back to the targets.

"He finds it funny." I said, answering the implied question in her statement.

"Really?" she asked raising an eyebrow, as if she couldn't believe this.

"Yeah."

She made a face.

"Why?"

"Not entirely sure." I admitted with a shrug. "Probably because it irritates her."

"If it irritates her, why don't you stop?" she asked quietly and I looked at her.

I didn't have an answer for that. Well, not one that made a l lot of sense anyways. I couldn't explain why annoying Harper was so fun sometimes, probably because of the way she reacted. It was just funny. She got so flustered. It was like messing with a kitten.

Jasmine fixed me with a gauging look, and just like Aaron, I had the feeling like she was reading my mind.

"Well, I guess if you don't want to talk about it, you don't want to talk about it." she said with a shrug. "I'm glad Harper's helping you at any rate."

"Yeah." I agreed and she looked a little uncomfortable.

"Well, if you really are ok I guess I leave you to it."

She nodded and started to walk away, and once again, I got the feeling that seemed to linger over most of my interactions with Jasmine lately. Like I'd screwed things up and lots of things weren't being said. The problem was, I didn't know what they were.

"You're still coming to Charlie's party, right?" I asked anxiously.

The twins' birthday was coming up soon, and there was going to be a party on the beach. I'd invited her to come at the start of the break, but with things the way they had been between us, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd changed her mind or made up an excuse not to go.

"Yeah, I'll be there." She said and the invite seemed to brighten her mood. "Annie and I already picked our outfits."

"What about Aaron?" I asked with a grin and she rolled her eyes.

"He's still deciding the big Diva." Her voice was exasperated. "At this point. He might have to make a wardrobe change half way through the party if he can't make up his mind."

I laughed.

"So I'll see you there then?" I asked and she seemed to relax.

"Yeah." She said giving me a truly beautiful smile. "You will."

Relief flooded through me.

"Cool, I look forward to it."

The smile grew.

"Me too."

I watched her go, her long hair catching a slight breeze rolling over the camp, feeling a smile of my own making its way to my face. Suddenly, today didn't seem so bad.

"You and your girlfriend finally figure things out?" a voice asked, and I looked over my shoulder to see Harper walking towards me as usual, a book in her arms. An eyebrow arched over the rim of glasses and she gave me an expectant look.

"Possibly." I answered with a shrug.

"Good." She said with a nod stopping in front of me. Her hair was almost as long as Jasmines, but it was darker and pulled into braids today. While I could tell by her tone she'd been messing with me, she looked a little nervous.

"What ya got there?" I asked nodding towards the book and she looked a little embarrassed.

"Archery for amateurs." She said holding it up for me to see and avoiding my eye.

I grinned a little as she awkwardly tugged at one of her braids.

"Seriously Bambi?" I asked with a laugh taking the book flipping through the pages.

She blushed.

"Look, I was nervous ok?"

"This crap isn't going to help you." I said shaking the book with a taunt as I handed it back and she looked stubborn. "This isn't something you can read your way through."

"I know." She mumbled folding her arms over her chest, but then, as if she couldn't help herself, added. "If it was I'd be outshooting you by now."

I ignored this and held out my bow.

"You don't have to be nervous Harper." I assured as she let out a wary exhale, but grabbed the weapon anyways. "I'm pretty good at this. You just have to let me help you."

"I know." She said so softly, I wasn't sure if I was meant to hear it, but I could feel the tension in the words.

She really was nervous.

"Harper, look at me."

She made an irritated noise, but looked up anyways. When she did, I could see just how uncertain they were, and how hard it was for her to be here. Just how much pride she'd had to swallow to admit she needed my help.

"It'll be ok." I assured her and the corner of her mouth quirked up slightly, as if she was trying not to grin.

"I thought I was the one who was supposed to say that." She said breaking eye contact, but I knew she could still feel my gaze.

"I figure it's probably time I return the favor."

She didn't respond, but she looked a little less anxious.

"You ready?" I asked as she squinted at the target, then took a fairly normal stance.

"Yup." She said with a sigh, then as if she couldn't help herself, asked. "You have a medic on standby?"

"I am a medic."

"A good medic." She said her tone surly, but this time she did grin and I let out a surprised laugh.

"Oh that's how it is?" I asked incredulously.

"Yup."

"Those are fighting words Davis."

"You expect anything less from me Wells?" she retorted the smile growing into a smirk. "I stand by what I said."

"Just for that, I'm sticking you with Libby next time you're in the infirmary."

"Oh gods." She said in horror. "Alright, alright I'm sorry."

Libby was one of my most talkative sisters, and while she was a brilliant healer, she didn't leave any of her patients alone when she worked in the infirmary. People either loved being treated by her, or hated it. There generally wasn't an in between.

"That's what I thought Bambi." I said with a satisfaction and she rolled her eyes. "Now stop stalling and take your shot."

"Here we go." Harper said pulling back the bow string and shaking her head. "Olympus help whoever walks over here in the next thirty minutes."

…..

The lesson didn't go well. That was all that could really be said about it with me still remaining polite.

I tried to find something to encourage Harper about her progress, but there wasn't a lot to work with and I knew her. Harper would rather me say nothing than lie to her.

"You'll get better." I said taking my bow away from her as free time came to an end, and putting it over my shoulder.

"Yeah." She muttered in halfhearted agreement, but her tone was dejected and I noticed wouldn't meet my eye.

"You will. It just takes practice." I assured her, but I knew she didn't believe me.

The one good thing that could be said about today, was that she didn't get angry. Frustrated with her lack of improvement, sure. But she hadn't yelled at me or stormed off yet, which had happened about ten minutes into our last few attempts.

We put away the equipment that had been scattered about during the lesson, off target arrows, broken strings, that sort of thing. She didn't say much as we left the training field, and I knew she was embarrassed, but I wasn't sure what I could say that would make her feel better.

Eventually I managed to get a couple of laughs out of her as I walked her back to her cabin. They were mostly at Charlie's expense, but I couldn't feel that guilty about it. At least she didn't look upset anymore.

"He got slapped how many times?" she asked, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

I'd told her about the time Charlie had gotten turned around during one of our basketball games at another school, and accidentally walked into the girl's locker room when their entire volleyball team had been in there.

"At least six." I said grinning a little guiltily. "He had to go to one of their practices and apologize in front of the whole team and their coach. I thought they were going to murder him."

"I'm surprised he didn't get suspended or something."

"It was an accident." I said with a shrug, enjoying the way her eyes were glittering with amusement. "The sign was covered by poster for their winter formal, and the locker room doors looked exactly alike. Still," I felt a surge of guilt go through me which was quickly banished as she smiled at me. I returned it. "Don't tell Charlie I told you. He wouldn't be happy about it."

"I won't." she said still sounding entertained.

"Same time tomorrow?" I asked gesturing towards my bow.

We'd made it back to her cabin, and stopped, wrapping up a conversation I wasn't sure I was quite ready to finish.

"Yeah." She agreed. "Hopefully you'll have a few more Charlie stories I haven't heard yet ready for me."

"I'll keep 'em coming." I said without a single thought to the consequences, and when her eyes met mine, there was something different about the smile she gave me.

It reminded me of the day we'd met, before I'd known who her brother was.

I was about ready to launch into another story if it meant she'd keep talking, but was interrupted.

"Oh good, you guys are done."

The voice belonged to Charlie, who'd poked his head out of their cabin door. He was grinning when he spotted me, but it faltered slightly when his eyes landed on his sister.

"What were you guys talking about?" he asked, and I thought, for just a moment, a flash of suspicion went through them.

Only then did I realize how close I'd been standing to her. Suddenly, under Charlie's gaze, it felt a little too close.

"Basketball." Harper answered when I didn't, which was honest enough I guess. Basketball had been involved.

He seemed to sense my uncertainty however, because his eyebrow darted up.

"Really?" he asked Harper in plain disbelief. "You don't even like basketball."

"Maybe," she said with an easy shrug, then gave him a sarcastic smile. "But thanks to you and Ash, I know far too much about it."

"Uh huh."

His eyes fell back to me, clearly unconvinced.

Guilt was flooding through me, though I wasn't exactly sure why. Charlie had always been protective of his sister, but I'd always been a bit of an exception to that rule. Maybe because I was the only one he trusted not to break it. But, judging by his expression at the moment, it was clear he was reassessing this decision.

Without really meaning to, I took a step back from Harper.

I was sure it wasn't lost on either twin, but neither Charlie or Harper mentioned it.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ash." she said, and I was absolutely floored when she turned to wink at me.

What was happening?

"Very funny Harper." Charlie said with a scowl as she laughed, and made her way up the steps and into the cabin.

He continued to glower after his sister for a few seconds, before he turned, his expression clearing.

"You guys had really had me going there." He said jogging down the steps.

"We did?"

"Yeah." He said his tone a little uneasy. "For a second I could have sworn you guys were flirting. But I should have realized it was an act."

'Ah.' I thought a little belatedly. 'That explained the wink.'

"She's probably just trying to get back at me about yelling at that James guy. You know the one who keeps trying to talk to her?" He said with a frown, then shot me a reproachful look. "You didn't have to play along though. For a second there I almost thought…"

His sentence faded, as if it was too unpleasant to complete, then he shook his head as if trying to clear it.

"I should have guessed though. It's not like you of all people would do that."

Not sure what to say to this, I decided it was probably best just to say nothing.

Was I flirting with Harper? No. Of course not. We were just talking. It wasn't as if I was flirting with Charlie whenever we talked about practices or games. Besides, I'd seen Harper flirt before. She wasn't the laughing, easy going it's obvious I like you kind of girl. She was more of a, 'convince me this conversation is worth my time and interest,' kind of flirt. She didn't make things easy for anyone who might be interested in her. Depending how well a boy kept up with her with his initial approach, was about how interested she ended up being in him. Not many got very far, even without Charlie getting involved.

Maybe that's why she hadn't told James to leave her alone yet. He might have been enough of a smart ass to keep her at least a little curious, even if it was the reason I though he shouldn't be trusted.

"How'd target practice go?" he asked eventually, breaking the slightly awkward pause that stretched between us and I seized a little gratefully on the subject.

"Imagine it going exactly how you'd expect it to go." I said with a sigh. "I guarantee however bad you think it was, it was worse."

"That's pretty bad." He said with a chuckle. "She hit anyone?"

"Not yet." I muttered.

"Yet?" he asked looking alarmed and I shook my head.

"It's only a matter of time…" I said quietly, thinking back to the lesson.

Harper couldn't hit the target if it saved her life, and the one time she just barely did, I was pretty sure she wasn't aiming for it.

"There has got to be a reason she's so bad." He said insistently. "You teach both the basic and the advanced lessons and no one else has this much of an issue."

"I have no idea what it is." I admitted. "Her stance is fine, she's doing everything I tell her, but she just can't hit the target." Her aim wasn't consistent. Sometimes she was short, other times she was way over. Then the next shot was just as wrong going wide. "It's like she can't see the damn thing."

I glanced at him

"Does she have an astigmatism or something?" I asked if maybe she had a depth perception issue or something.

"No." Charlie said looking a little amused. "Besides, you'd think she'd have figured that out if that was the problem."

"Yeah maybe." I muttered, scratching my head, completely stumped.

I'd never had a student I couldn't help, but Harper was just in her own league of terrible when it came to a bow. I could tell it made her frustrated, but she seemed to be better at keeping it under control than the last time we'd tried to improve her performance in archery. No one had started yelling yet, so that was a win.

"Well I'm sure you guys will figure it out." He assured me, clapping me on the shoulder in a gesture of solidarity. "Let me know if there's anything I can do anything to help, for either of you."

"I will." I said with a nod.

There was another moment of awkwardness where neither of us seemed to know what to say which felt a little weird. Charlie was my best friends. Things were never awkward between us.

"Did you need something?" I asked.

He'd looked excited to tell us something when he'd first spotted Harper and I, but seemed to get distracted when he'd thought something had been going on between us.

"Oh, not really." He said shaking his head. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to the court and practice."

He didn't sound as enthused about the idea now, but, not having much else to do for once, and wanting to move passed whatever had just happened, I shrugged and said.

"Sure. I just gotta change. I'll meet you there?"

"Yeah."

He nodded, then turned and went back into his cabin, while I made my way to my own.

I couldn't help but shake the feeling something was off between Charlie and I, but figured it would all get sorted out on the court. At least I'd hoped it did. Things had never been weird between us. Mostly because, I didn't think he'd ever doubted he could trust me around his sister.

A pang of fear went through me wondering what I should do about it.

My first thought was to avoid Harper, just to show Charlie nothing weird was going on between us and we weren't getting too close, but that didn't make a lot of sense.

I _was_ close with Harper. Maybe not like he'd been thinking for a moment there, but she was a friend. A good friend. And I felt like explaining why I was avoiding her might cause more problems than it solved.

That, and between archery lessons and her tutoring me in chemistry, we were probably going to see each other every day.

Preoccupied by these thoughts, I almost didn't see the figure skulking towards the woods until they hit the tree line.

"What the…" I said feeling my brow furrow in confusion.

I stopped in front of my cabin only to see James look over his shoulder, clearly trying to see if anyone near him had noticed, before he stepped into the shadows and out of sight.

What the Hades was he doing?

Thinking back, I hadn't seen James all day which was a little weird. From what I could tell, he liked to be around people, in the center of the action and attention well-known names around camp tended to attract. He'd seemed to be adjusting to the popularity almost a little too well.

In fact, the only time I ever really saw him without a group was when he'd been trying to talk to Harper, something Charlie had made clear several times he was not happy about and had been the cause of a lot of bickering between the two lately.

I'd done my best to stay out of it, believing Aaron was right, and that my opinion about James would only matter to Harper if she asked for it. But still, I looked at him, trying to figure out why he would want to go into the woods. He had looked stressed and weren't supposed to go in there alone. Certainly not without anyone knowing.

I was pretty sure he hadn't said anything to anyone, so what was he up to?

I frowned, wondering if I should investigate, when I heard someone shout my name.

"You ready?" Charlie asked.

I turned to see him waving at me, clearly trying to get my attention.

"Just a sec!" I called back.

Deciding to forget about James, I jogged into my cabin, quickly changed, then ran to meet up with Charlie, hoping things would return to normal sooner rather than later.


	8. Chapter 8

Hpov

Between activities, archery lessons, working on the chariot with Tamera and Allison, _and_ trying to tutor Ashton in any spare time we had, it seemed like the last few weeks had flown by.

Things had been pretty normal all things considered, except that I was seeing much more of Ashton than I usually did. Well, seeing more of him without my brother being around. Usually the two were practically inseparable while at camp, but since Charlie had a tendency to annoy me and distract Ashton whatever we were doing, it had become sort of an unspoken policy he didn't interrupt when we were studying or I had a weapon. Even if I was unlikely to actually hit him.

Since time had been moving so quickly, I'd been forgetting to keep track of the days. Normally, this wouldn't really be an issue, life didn't vary much at camp when the world wasn't thrown into chaos, however, there was one night each summer that I dreaded. And this was why I found myself walking with my brother to the beach, bracing myself for what was about to hit.

'Just an hour,' I thought trying to steel myself and my nerves. 'Two at the most. Then it'll be over. That's all you have to endure.'

"Gods Harper." Charlie said with a slight chuckle as he looked down at me, smirking. "You look like you're going to be sick."

I didn't answer and he shook his head, apparently torn between of mix of exasperation and amusement.

"Try to relax, will you? It's a party, not a root canal."

"You say that as if one is preferable to the other." I muttered my tone sour and he rolled his eyes.

Today was Charlie and my 'birthday', and if I was being honest I wasn't really looking forward to it. I never did.

The reason I always put mental quotes around the word was because my siblings and I weren't born in the traditional sense of the world. We were the literal interpretation of a brain child, seeing as that our mother thought us into existence. Charlie always liked to point out that he was the first to appear to our mother, saying that it made him the 'older' twin. And when we were little, whenever he was annoyed with me, he used to say of the two of us I was the afterthought. Despite this, we still shared the same 'birthday'.

Every year our siblings threw us a party, and while I appreciated the thought, I never _really_ liked celebrating my birthday. It's not that I had to share it. Being a twin, even a fraternal one, you got used to sharing pretty much everything. But usually when we were at camp, or anywhere really, Charlie and our social circles were pretty insulated from each other. He was popular, and I was quiet. He played sports where I preferred books. He like to be in the middle of things, where excitement and action was happening. I preferred to only really hang out with the people I was closest with. On our birthday however… I had to share Charlie's spot light.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

What seemed like half the camp had crowded on the sand, demigods, nymphs, and satyrs all talking in little groups that had turned, beaming at us the second we hit the beach.

I smiled and waved a little awkwardly while Charlie let out a yell of enthusiasm as he spotted his friends. He opened his arms wide, inviting people to surge towards us and I braced myself for the onslaught.

The scene was a little weird, even for someone used to living in the mythological world. It looked like a cross between a party in a teen movie and a page out of a fairytale. People were everywhere, and almost all of them were here for him.

He greeted people and laughed, his arm around my shoulders as they came forward to wish us a happy birthday, each trying to push passed each other and monopolize the time of the 'birthday' pair.

That was the weird thing about this day. It was the one day of a year I was briefly as popular as my brother. While most of the time it seemed like the camp forgot it, today was the day everyone remembered that we were twins. This was my birthday too. And, by extension, this was also my party. They tended to want to match the enthusiasm they expected to give Charlie to me. The problem was, I didn't really know Charlie's friends all that well.

Through the mob, I kept an eye out for Ashton, hoping to have someone I actually knew to deflect some of the attention, but was a little disappointed when he didn't seem to be there. The next fifteen minutes, was me stuck next to my Charlie trying match the energy levels of people excited for their friend's birthday and the other Davis twin.

My social meter starting to reach the red, I felt a surge of relief go through me when I spotted a tall, familiar figure with blonde hair between the party goers. But just as I began debating making a break from the crowd, I spotted who he'd been talking to. The reason why Ashton wasn't right there in the center of the horde with Charlie and I.

He was talking to Jasmine.

As instant as it was inexplicable, the flare of relief that had gone through me when I'd spotted him died.

I hadn't really seen much of Ashton today, which was kind of weird considering how much time we'd been spending together recently, but we'd agreed that neither of us felt like studying or going to the archery fields on Charlie and my 'birthday'. But I still thought I'd get to talk to him a little. I'd gotten so used to him being around lately, it felt almost wrong that I hadn't spoken to him at all today. He was really the only one of Charlie's friends that I actually wanted to see today.

Forcing down the urge to walk over to the pair, I mentioned grabbing a drink to the people around me, who I was sure wasn't really paying attention to me, and excused myself to the cooler sitting next to the snack table.

I nodded and smiled at people who called happy birthday to me, and actually talked to some of my siblings I ran into on the way, but none of the conversations lasted long.

Without really noticing what I was grabbing, I pulled a can out of the ice and opened it, my mind far from the beach and the sun that was starting to set over it.

As if unable to help it, I glanced at Ashton and Jasmine who were laughing as they talked. They were making their way to join the crowd around Charlie and Annie, who'd taken the spot next to him now that I'd ducked out.

I liked Annie. When Charlie first told me he was planning on asking one of the Aphrodite girls to the fireworks display a three summers ago, I'd laughed at him, almost certain she'd turn him down. But to my very great surprise, and Charlie's too probably if he was honest, Annie had said yes. She was really nice, and had never expected me to be like my brother like most people seemed to when they first met Charlie's sister. Over the years they'd been dating, I saw how good she was for him. She'd singlehandedly changed my idea of all Aphrodite campers being selfish and vain, and sometimes just straight up cruel to people outside their little supermodel bubble of good looks. Honestly, it was because of her that I tried not to form too much of an opinion of Jasmine when she and Ashton had started dating. Well, not until I got to know her at least. For some reason, I'd figured she'd try to befriend me like Annie did, but she never really did. I'd wondered why at first, wondering if she didn't like me, then quickly realized how stupid that was. I'd figured since I spent so much time with Ashton because of Charlie, she'd care about what I thought of her. But I wasn't Ashton's sister. What did my opinion matter? It wasn't like I wasn't all that important when it came to their relationship.

I blinked when I realized I'd been staring at the two, and quickly looked away.

I wasn't sure why I was surprised that Ashton had made a point of talking to her. I'd seen the two of them together much more over the past week or so. So much more that, I'd wondered if they'd gone back to dating and just decided not to tell people, but I couldn't be sure. It seemed like whenever Charlie and Ashton hung out with their popular friends, she'd been there, and they'd been talking a lot. It was to the point that I'd started to feel a little weird around the two, if not slightly ignored. But every time I'd start feeling a bit like a third wheel around him, like maybe he didn't want to talk to me or things had gotten weird between us for some reason, we'd end up studying together or spend more time laughing and making fun of each other at the archery fields, and things felt back to normal.

'Still...' I thought a little defiantly, unaccountably irritated. Ashton was my friend, I'd expected at least something. Even if it was just a stupid happy birthday.

I sat at the table watching the party, feeling both a little disappointed, and annoyed I cared at all.

Now that I was no longer close enough in proximity to Charlie to being recognized as his sister, I'd regained my invisible status among the campers.

So what if Ashton was with Jasmine? I had my own friends. I didn't even want to be at this party anyways.

"Happy birthday Harper!"

I jumped, caught so off guard I nearly spilled my drink.

"Oh my gods." I said willing my heart to stop pounding as I turned to see two familiar face laughing at me.

I'd been so lost in thought, I hadn't even seen Allison and Tamera.

I rested my can on the table and stood, and Allison smothered me with a hug that was surprisingly strong for her tiny frame.

"Thanks Al." I said with a grin glancing at Tamera.

"You look miserable four eyes." She observed with a smirk. "Shouldn't you be a little happier at your own party?"

"It's just a lot of people." I said glancing one last time at Ashton before letting go of Allison and turning towards my friends.

The sun was setting. It a warm summer evening on the beach and the scene really was beautiful, but I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was a little quieter...

"Well, our gift should cheer you up!" Allison said brightly, recapturing my attention and bringing it back to her.

She held up small rectangular box that was wrapped neatly in red paper and set with bow made of golden ribbon.

"So I know who didn't wrap this." I said shooting a knowing grin at Tamera who snorted.

"No." she agreed, as if the idea of her wrapping anything was insulting. "But I _did_ finance the project."

"Go ahead and open it!" Allison said practically bouncing with excitement as she handed me the gift.

Grinning, I tore open the wrapping to see a small, mechanical book light, that looked as if it could be clipped on to the cover of whatever I was reading.

"I made it myself!" Allison said happily. "Tammy bought the parts and she paid for the enchantment that made it super special."

"What's the enchantment?" I asked curiously and noticing, not without interest, that Tamera looked a little proud of herself, but also like she was trying not to show it.

"Alright, so you know how your siblings are always getting on your case about reading too late and keeping them up with the light?" Allison asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, this fixes that problem!" She said her tone bright, then gestured towards a switch on the main body of the device. "See, if you flip the switch this way, it works as a normal light." She pushed it to the left and the light turned on. "But flip it this way..."

She pushed the switch to the right. Once again, the light flashed on and I looked at her in confusion.

"I don't get it." I said a little puzzled and Tamera let out a smug laugh.

"Lift up your glasses dork." she said with a smirk.

I glanced at her, still a little confused, but then pushed my glasses to my forehead and blinked.

"Cool right?" Tamera asked, unable to hide the satisfaction, and the tiny grin making its way to her face as I continued putting on, and taking off my glasses.

"The light works with the enchantment on your lenses." Allison said enthusiastically. "On the second setting, only you can see the light it produces when you're looking through them."

"That's wild." I said grinning, continuing to watch the tiny bulb flicker on and off.

"Isn't it amazing?" Allison asked. "It was Tamera's idea. I built it and she got one of the Hecate campers to do the enchantment. Isn't she totally brilliant?"

"Yeah." I agreed with a laugh and looking up at my friends, feeling excited for the first time today that it was my birthday. "Thanks you guys, this is so cool."

"No problem." Tamera said while Allison let out an excited squeal and tackled me into another hug.

"I'm _sooooooo_ glad you like it." she said as I returned embrace. "Tammy kept going back and forth wondering if you would like it."

"I did not." Tamera said gruffly, clearly trying contest the implication that she cared, but Allison continued, ignoring the interjection.

"But I _told _her you would."

"I do." I assured patting Allison on the shoulder. "Thanks."

Tamera didn't join the hug. She wasn't really hugger, but she did give me a nod with a rare, genuine smile, which was about as close to a hug as you were going to get with her.

We continued to talk for a bit, on the periphery of the party, as Allison went into detail about how the light worked, Temera checking out occasionally to talk to a few of her siblings that passed us for snacks and drinks.

Eventually, we were invited to a game of volleyball that was starting by the net the satyrs had set up. It was fun for a bit, but quickly devolved into chaos when an argument broke out over a net violation. One of the Ares brothers was shoved by a Hermes campers, and all hell broke loose. The next thing I knew, weapons were out and people were shouting.

"Things are getting a little rowdy." Allison said as we ducked to avoid Tamera as she charged an Apollo camper from the other team who'd been grappling with one of her sisters, using a piece of driftwood as a makeshift spear.

"Yeah," I agreed, wincing as it made contact with the boy's gut and he doubled over. "I say we bounce."

We bobbed and weaved through the crowd, but managed to get separated in the what was rapidly becoming a party wide brawl as the fight ignited sibling and cabin rivalries.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I was pulled from the path of a panicking Satyrs that were to break up the fight.

"Hey! Watch the birthday girl!" a familiar voice shouted angrily.

"Thanks Ash." I said gratefully, brushing sand off my shins and trying to regain my footing

"No problem." He answered stiff arming an Ares sister who nearly backed into us.

"Watch it sunshine!" she snarled before jumping back into the fray.

"Figured a hoof print on the back of your skull wouldn't exactly be a great birthday surprise." He continued as if she hadn't said anything. "Let's get out of this mess."

We managed to clear the pandemonium and separated ourselves a decent amount.

I wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but suddenly, I found myself walking with him by the water, watching the last of the sun set disappearing behind the waves.

"Well?" he asked glancing down at me. "Did you have fun?"

I let out a humorless laugh, figuring that was all I could do without sounding ungrateful that so many people had shown up to celebrate with me and Charlie. Ashton grinned a little, and I knew I wouldn't have to explain myself to him.

The last of the light was catching in his eyes the way it always seemed to whenever life around us slowed down, and got I the chance to really look at him. Since we went to school together, and he was around my house all the time, I sometimes took it for granted Ashton was a son of Apollo. I was so used to being around him doing homework, watching basketball, and messing with Charlie, things just seemed so normal when we were together. The way things were supposed to be in the mortal world. Moments like these, however, I wondered how I ever forgot.

"It was alright." I said with a shrug, forcing myself to look away. I knew if I looked much longer it would be borderline staring and sort of weird.

"Yeah, I figured that this was more a party for Charlie than it was for you." he admitted and I couldn't help but glance at him again. He was looking out over the water. "But he seemed to have a good time."

"That's good." I said and I meant it. We might get on each others nerves sometimes, but that didn't mean I didn't love my brother. I was glad he had fun at the party.

I shivered as a cool breeze blew off the ocean and automatically, as if he hadn't even needed to think about it, Ashton put an arm around my shoulders. Immediately, I felt the warmth. Even though the sky was getting darker by the second, it felt as if the air around me had been set back to mid-day. It reminded me of home, all the nights staying up, watching movies with Ashton while Charlie was on the phone with Annie on the weekends. Car rides to basketball tournaments, reading next to him. He and Charlie always stuck me between them in the backseat since out of the three of us, I was the only one _not_ over six feet tall.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you much before now." He said as we continued to walk. He sounded guilty. "You were sort of mobbed when you first got here, and I figured it would be easier for you to get unstuck from Charlie and the people who were going to follow you two around if I kept him occupied. I had a feeling he would have insisted you guys do everything together otherwise."

"Oh." I said quietly, a little surprised. "Thanks."

Only now, when I realized how relieved I was feeling that he wasn't, did I see how anxious I'd been that he was starting to avoid me.

I'd figured he'd wanted the time with Jasmine.

He was right though, that was how our birthdays had always gone. People wanting Charlie to be the center of attention, and Charlie, thinking he was doing me a favor, making sure I was a part of it as well.

"No problem." He said kindly. "I know this sort of party isn't really your thing."

I wasn't sure when we'd stopped walking. But his arm was still around my shoulders as we watched the sun continue to sink, streaks of red, orange, and gold in the sky.

"You know, if you're cold we could head back to the rest of the group." He glanced over his shoulder. "It looked like things have settled down. I think they were going to start a bonfire when it got dark."

He glanced down at me and grinned when he caught my expression.

"Or you know, you could bail."

I shook my head.

"Nah." I said with a sigh. "Charlie would be disappointed if I left."

"Bambi, you do know it's your birthday today too, don't you? Not just Charlie's."

I wanted to be annoyed at this, but for some reason, I wasn't.

"Yeah, and you'd think today of all days you wouldn't call me that."

Normally, I would have pushed him off at the nickname, but I didn't have it in me at the moment. Everything was so nice right now. I couldn't even pretend to be irritated with him. Despite the breeze off the water, I was warm and it was as if the familiar feeling had melted my anxiety from the party away. I rarely felt this relaxed, outside of the pages of a book anyways. The sky was glowing with such bright metallic colors, it looked like it had been painted by the gods themselves. It was beautiful. I just didn't have it in me to be upset about anything. Even his stupid nickname for me.

"Alright," he said with a slight chuckle. "I'll be nice. But seriously Harper, if you don't want to be here you don't have to be."

I hesitated, looking up at him feeling a little uncertain. I was sure Charlie would want me to spend a little more time with him at the party. I hadn't seen him since we'd been mobbed earlier, he'd be disappointed if I left early. And I didn't want to leave, at least not yet while I was still here wish Ashton.

He was right however, if there was ever a chance to slip away from the party it was now. And I knew it wouldn't be much longer before Charlie would start wondering where his sister and his best friend were.

As if he could read my thoughts, Ashton spoke.

"Go on." He said withdrawing his arm from around me and nodding towards the path that would lead back to the main part of the camp. "I'll cover for you."

"Are you sure?" I asked wondering who I was really asking. Him or myself.

"Yeah." he said looking like he was attempting half a smile, but not quite managing it. "I'll deal with Charlie."

"Seriously, you don't have to. I'll be ok."

I expected him to respond, probably something sarcastic or teasing, the sort of thing he'd say when he and Charlie implied I let my reading habits get to the point of not taking care of myself, but he didn't. He just looked suddenly very tired. As if a wave of exhaustion he'd been fighting all night had gotten a foothold, then proceeded to roll right over him. He was looking at me, but it seemed as if his mind was somewhere else, and I felt the warmth in the space between us start to dwindle.

"Ash?"

Yeah, Bambi?" The response was automatic, and I wondered if he'd never realized he'd said it. He still seemed far away.

"Are you ok?"

For a moment there, it had felt like it did when I thought he might not want to talk to me. As if the two feet of space between us had become a canyon of distance, and I wasn't sure why.

"Yeah." he said shaking his head and something in his mind seemed to slip back into place. "Yeah sorry. I'm fine. Just got lost in thought."

"I thought that was my thing." I pointed out and while he smiled, something about it was a little sad.

"Yeah it is. Sorry if I'm cramping your style."

I noticed his eyes seemed to be avoiding mine as he continued.

"I'll see you tomorrow I guess. We're still on for exam prep right?"

"Yeah." I said, trying not to sound too disappointed as I realized he'd already had it fixed in his mind that he was going back to the party, and I wouldn't be going with him.

"Alright." he said with a nod. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow I guess."

I wondered if I really managed to cover the disappointment this time, because he hesitated and it looked as if he was debating what he wanted to do. He reached out, and I wondered if he was going for a hug, but whatever he'd intended, it seemed he changed his mind at the last second.

Instead, he ruffled my hair and said, "Happy birthday, Harps." quietly.

I didn't respond. I didn't really know what to say as he walked back to the party. I watched him rejoin the ranks of my brother and their popular friends, not knowing why it bothered me so much. This was normal wasn't it? By all accounts, this was pretty much how I expected this day to go minus taking a break from everybody with Ashton. So why did I feel so let down? And why had he looked so upset by the end there?

Not knowing what else to do. I turned and started making my way back to camp, running my fingers through my hair to smooth it and wondering what had just happened.

Distracted, I didn't even notice the person walking towards me.

"Leaving already?" a voice asked in a familiar accent and I stopped, knowing there was only one person it could have belonged to.

I stopped only to see James was in front of me, looking a little bemused that I hadn't noticed him until now.

"You're back." I said in surprise.

I'd been going back and forth for days, debating I should invite James to the party tonight. I knew Charlie wouldn't, and Tamera would have been annoyed if he was here, but he'd been really nice to me since we'd been returned to camp for the summer and we had been talking a lot recently. However, despite this, I didn't know if we were really friends.

I'd been secretly relieved when he'd been sent on a mission over the weekend because the problem had seemed to solve itself. I didn't expect him to return so soon.

"Yeah. We just got in." He said with a nod.

This was obvious from a number of injuries that littered his limbs and the state his clothes were in.

"I'd hoped to get back in time to catch you before the night was over." He continued. "Are you heading out?"

He sounded disappointed. It was obvious he'd assumed I would have invited him if he'd been here, and while I probably would have just to avoid things being awkward, I wasn't exactly sure if I was happy I'd run into him. I'd thought I'd avoided this.

"Yeah." I said apologetically, hoping to convey I wasn't going to have my mind changed as I quickly tried to think of an excuse. "I'm pretty tired."

It was a lame story, but sort of true as I realized I was a little tired. I'd been around people for too long.

"Well, I guess there's not much reason for me to be here if you're gone."

He glanced at the cluster of people laughing and talking around a pile of flaming driftwood, then shrugged.

"Mind if I walk back with you?" he asked looking back at me with a sly smile. "I don't think your brother would believe I showed up for him. I'm not sure he'd like your present anyways."

"You got me something?" I asked with surprise.

The smile grew.

"Yeah." He said reaching into his back pocket.

Though it was getting dark, I could the small narrow box wrapped in light purple tissue paper, tied of with a darker ribbon.

"Wow. Uh, thank you." I said still a little wrong footed.

I hadn't expected this.

"No problem." He said easily.

He handed me the box and I tore open the paper to see that inside was a small, pretty bottle, obviously perfume, a flower printed on the side.

A twinge of disappointment shot through me as I recognized the picture, but James didn't seem to notice.

"Happy birthday." He said grinning, clearly confident in the gift. "It's lavender scented. I don't know a lot about perfume, but one of my sisters said this brand was pretty good. I hope you like it."

"Thanks." I said trying to force a smile as began to walk. "This really nice of you."

And it was. I hadn't expected James to give me anything, let alone something as nice as perfume. I tried to keep this in mind as we walked and he talked about the mission he'd been on and what monsters he'd run into. But the truth was, I was allergic to lavender. Anything lavender scented made me sneeze, and any oils or creams that contained it almost always gave me a rash, but the gift was really thoughtful and he looked so proud of it, I didn't have the heart to ruin it for him.

Getting a little tired of hearing about the mission, I tried to find a break in the conversation to try and change the subject, but was unsuccessful. I nodded and acted impressed when I was obviously supposed to, but I honestly wasn't paying much attention.

"You sure you don't want to keep celebrating?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as we reached the Athena cabin. "Birthday's only come once a year."

He was clearly trying to draw out our talk, and while part of me felt like I should want to as well, I really was tired. It wasn't just an excuse anymore.

"Yeah." I said with a nod. "Charlie and his friends are kind of a lot. All I really want right now is just to go to bed."

"Alright." He said and while his tone was light, something about his expression didn't quite match. He looked uneasy. "Well, I'm sorry I missed your party."

I shook my head.

"Don't worry about it. Camp emergencies are much more important and besides," I gave him a slightly exasperated grin. "That was more Charlie's party than mine."

He frowned a little and crossed his arms over his chest, clearly debating on if he really wanted to say what he was thinking. But unlike when I'd been talking to Ashton earlier, I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what he'd wanted to say. And again, unlike Ashton, he'd decided to go ahead and say it.

"Doesn't it bother you?" He asked eventually, studying me as if I were a question on an exam he couldn't quite figure out.

I didn't understand it, but he looked almost frustrated.

"Does what bother me?" I asked uncertainly, reflecting on the fact that it was moments like these, that were why I wasn't sure if James and I were friends.

He spent all this time talking to me about books and asking about how things were going for me at camp, clearly trying to get me to like him, and then it was like he got frustrated. Annoyed even.

"That your brother gets all the attention." He said as if this should have been obvious. "You're just as smart as he is, and you're much better looking."

I was surprised at this statement. Usually when James was talking to me, he was a lot more subtle. So much so, I found the bluntness of this statement jarring.

"Not really." I said with a shrugged, not really sure why this would matter so much. "Charlie is Charlie, I'm me." I shrugged again not sure why I felt so uncomfortable or defensive under his gaze. "He likes the attention. I don't."

"Who doesn't like attention?" he asked, but it was more to himself, as if he was saying 'what's wrong with her?'.

I didn't know what to make of this, but what I did know was that I'd had enough.

"Well, thank you for the gift." I said and something in his tone must have caught his attention, because he changed gears instantly.

"Yeah, no problem. Let me know if you wanna do something to celebrate that's a little more your speed since I wasn't here."

"Yeah." I said figuring this wasn't likely, but trying not to show it.

I don't think I quite managed it. His frustrated expression was gone, and he looked a little worried, as if he'd realized he'd messed up.

"I'll see you around Harper." He said, clearly trying to work his usual charm but I wasn't having any of it right now.

I didn't answer, just nodded and walked up into the Athena cabin.

'What a weird conversation.' I thought finding that I myself was a little annoyed as I shut the door.

Why did James spend all this time talking to me and trying to get to know me, if he was just going to act like I was weird when he did?

I crossed my arms over my chest and let an irritated noise without really meaning to. I knew a lot of people thought it was sort of weird how popular Charlie was, only to see how much of an introvert I'd turned out to be. Even Tamera commented on it sometimes. But at least she didn't pretend like she wanted to get to know me better because of it, then act like it was something to be annoyed about. None of Charlie's friends felt the need to go out of their way to talk to me. So what was James doing?

Irritated, and not even really sure as to why. I got ready for bed.

Who was he to dictate what I was supposed to like and supposed to want anyways?

So what if he was popular and had a ton of friends like Charlie. Ashton was too, and he never did anything like that. He understood I didn't always like being around people. He'd even help me escape tonight. He knew I'd want to. He never had an issue with it, or questioned it. And unlike James, when Ashton asked me about what I was reading or what I liked, or wanted to do, I got the feeling he was actually _interested_ in the answer.

He also apparently wanted to spend most of my birthday with Jasmine…

I sighed.

I didn't know why I was surprised. She was his girlfriend, well, sort of. And I was just his friend's sister, even if we were friends. Even if he said he'd been trying to divert attention away from me during the party, which I believed, that was just today. The rest of the time, when I felt like he might be avoiding me… well, I guess he just wanted to be around her.

And just like that, the irritation seeped out of me and was replaced with heavy sense of exhaustion. I didn't really know why I was so tired, or why it had come out of nowhere. All I knew was that it was bone deep, and seemed to weigh me down like lead.

I walked into my bunk room, drained from all the people at the party, and James, and Ashton, and everything. I was just about to go to bed, when I spotted something resting on my pillow that definitely hadn't been there when I'd left for the party.

It wasn't wrapped, but there was a bow resting, lightly on the cover, the paper still covering the adhesive square because Ashton, of all people, who know how important it was to me to keep my books in the best condition possible.

I grinned as I picked it up, recognizing the cover art.

There was a note that had been sitting next to the book, and I picked it up, my smile widening as I read Ashton's hand writing.

_Hey Bambi, look Familiar? _

_Spent months scouring bookstore after bookstore to find it._

_Finally found this copy at that little used book store you like on Drainwerth St. back home._

_The thing was brand new, previous owner didn't even take it out of the packaging. _

_Can you believe it?_

_Seriously though, I know how much you like this book._

_Hopefully this one will survive._

_Happy 'birthday' Harper._

_-Ash_

I laughed, reading the words noticing he'd even added the quotes to the word 'birthday' like I so often did.

I put down the note and looked at the book, still smiling like an idiot as I thought about it's significance. This was the book I'd been reading when I'd first met Ashton, watching Charlie play basketball. Of course, Ashton hadn't known we were related then, but I couldn't believe he'd remembered. The book had been ruined a few days later when a ball had knocked over a row of water bottles and drenched both it and me.

I couldn't believe he'd gone to all this trouble.

Completely forgetting the fatigue that had seemed so overwhelming just a few minutes ago I set the note on my nightstand and got ready for bed.

After settling under my blankets, I clipped my new book light to the cover of Ashton's gift, ready to put my presents to use for the next few hours.

I glanced at the note as I opened the book and smiled, then turned my gaze back towards the introduction happy to finally celebrate my 'birthday' the way _I _wanted.


	9. Chapter 9

Apov

At this point, I was almost getting used to the nightmares.

My eyes flew open as I woke, heart racing, a confused mix of images and voices filtering through my mind.

I sat up, my breathing uneven and exhausted from yet another night of terrible dreams. I glanced around, trying to calm down and process what I'd seen, a part of me still expecting terrible things to happen. Still convinced it wasn't over.

The room was bright with morning light, but the beams filtering through the window didn't reflect my mood. If they did, I wasn't sure the sun would have even risen today.

I put my head in my hands, shutting my eyes as I tried to force myself to remember what I'd seen.

Harper had been there, because of course she had been. She was in every nightmare. And it made them that much more terrifying.

She'd been in a throne room, surrounded on all sides by the gods. There had been a trial, and Charlie had been screaming at me. Saying it was my fault. She'd been in trouble, the gods were going to punish her, but I couldn't remember why.

Frustrated and angry, I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes, trying to force myself to remember. This had to mean something, it had to be important. Demigods didn't have dreams like this over and over again without them meaning something, but the more I tried to pry the details of the dreams from my memory, the faster they slipped away. I tried to remember, but I just couldn't.

I let out aggravated sigh and ran my fingers through my hair. It was sticking up, no doubt from tossing around in my sleep.

"What is happening to me?" I asked softly.

I was almost afraid to go to sleep now, terrified of what I was going to see next. Harper, trapped underground during a cave in, struck off the mountain side in a storm, being dragged into the sea by tentacles of monsters so ancient, the world had almost forgotten them.

James was in them occasionally, as well as Charlie, and every time it was the same. It was my fault. My fault these things were happening to her. But how was that possible? All I'd ever wanted for the Davis twins was for them to be happy, to be safe. They were my best friends. Why would I ever want to hurt Harper?

I noticed that I was the last to wake up, which wasn't all that surprising considering how late I'd been out the night before with Charlie and our friends. Forcing down the sense of anxiety that was gnawing at the pit of my stomach, I got ready for the day, trying not to dwell on what I'd seen or what I'd see again. I didn't understand it and I didn't think I wanted to either, but the nightmares weren't going away. I was losing sleep and it was getting to the point where it was sometimes hard to be around Harper. I found myself trying to avoid her when I was with other people, just so I didn't have to be reminded of what was happening to her in my dreams. But that didn't help much when we were alone together, or the emotional whiplash it caused because I liked spending time with her. But the more I was around her, the more terrifying the nightmares became. Then I'd have to see her, make sure she was alright, and the cycle would continue. Over and over it happened, everyday, but I couldn't stop myself. It was almost sick. I couldn't stop myself from being around her, making sure she was safe. Then the nightmares would return.

"Ash?"

I blinked only to realize I'd been staring at her.

"Yeah?" I asked shaking my head, wondering how long I'd zoned out. It had been happening a lot lately.

She looked up from her notes on chemical formulas to give me a quizzical look

"You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?" she asked, putting the mechanical pencil she'd been using behind her ear.

Luckily she didn't look annoyed that I clearly hadn't been paying attention, she just looked amused.

"Uh no, sorry." I said a little distracted as brushed a strand of her hair from her face. It had gotten stuck on the pencil. "What did you ask?"

We were studying together in the infirmary while I was on medic duty, but I couldn't help feeling I wasn't making very much progress today.

She'd been using one of the infirmary beds as a make shift desk, and the blankets were covered in pages of notes and various books she'd selected to help me cram for the exam retake at the enter of the summer.

"I asked you to give me the formula for sucrose," she said then frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." I said with a nod, but my heart wasn't in it and her expression was skeptical.

Clearly, she didn't buy it.

"You sure?"

"I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." I explained and she looked concerned.

"Why not?"

I hesitated. What could I say? There was no way in Olympus I was going to tell her she'd been a staple character in my slew of nightmares lately, but she knew me too well for me to blatantly lie to her face. I wasn't that good a liar anyways, and when it came down to it, I didn't like lying to Harper. She was my friend. It felt wrong.

"Probably stayed out too late from the party last night." I said with a sigh and rubbing the back of my neck which felt stiff.

"Ah."

She grinned slightly and I figured she was probably picturing the party devolving into something wild and crazy, the sort of thing you saw on tv or in movies, not that it had.

"Well." She continued with a shrug. "If you're tired, there's no point in studying. You're not going to retain anything. We might as well take a break."

She closed her notebooks and glanced at the clock on the wall.

"We have about an hour left before your shift is over." She said looking around the infirmary. It had been a slow day, and it looked as if that wasn't about to change. "What do you want to do?"

"What, you're not going to make me fetch you books?" I asked with a smirk and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not your patient today." She said with an exasperated expression. "If I was going to find something to read I could do it myself. The only reason I asked last summer was because you wouldn't let me."

"You were injured." I said indignantly, looking at her as if she were crazy. "Do you honestly think you can just 'walk off' poison? I thought you of all people were smarter than that."

She laughed clearly remembering her stay in the infirmary last summer. There had been an accident in the arena in which a gorgon had broken free of its restraints during an advanced combat lesson. The thing had charged Charlie and Harper had managed to push him out of the way, but she'd been injured in the process.

"Gods Charlie was so freaked out." She muttered, smiling a little as she recounted the memory and I scowled.

"Yeah, I wasn't so happy myself." I pointed out, sitting on the bed opposite the one she'd been using, and crossing my arms over my chest as I continued to glower at her.

It had been a little touch and go there for what I had to be the longest forty-eight hours of my life. I didn't get a of sleep. Charlie had been a wreck and when I wasn't helping stabilize her condition, I wasn't much better. Harper had obviously been in a lot of pain. I hadn't wanted to leave her. Libby had had to practically strong arm me out of the infirmary after the first night. I'd been threatening to work straight through to my next medic shift.

"You guys totally over reacted."

"No such thing Bambi." I said softly, closing my eyes and shifting to lean back on the pillow of the bed. "Not when it comes to you."

I hadn't meant to say it, I hadn't even consciously thought it. The words had just sort of slipped out.I expected her to get annoyed at the nick name, but she didn't.

Gods I was tired... I hadn't realized how bad it was until I'd laid down. Sunlight was shining through the windows of the infirmary, and a patch of it had fallen across the bed. The blankets below me were warm as if they'd just come out of a dryer. It was nice.

My eyes were still closed, so I couldn't see Harper, but I could practically feel her thinking. About what I wasn't sure, but I could tell something was whirring in her mind.

I often felt this way about the Davis twins, that their brains were so powerful you could actually feel when they were working on over drive, particularly with Harper. I wasn't sure if it was because of who their mother was, or I knew them so well, but when they were really reflecting on something, it was almost like a physical force.

There was a couple minutes where neither of us spoke as she continued to ruminate, and finally I turned my head to look at her.

"You gonna share with the rest of the class what you're thinking so hard about?"

"It's nothing really." She said with a shrug, but I raised an eyebrow and she relented with a sigh.

"I probably shouldn't talk about this with you," she said sounding a little conflicted. "You know, considering you might be more Charlie's twin than I am."

She shot me half a sarcastic grin and I laugh, but the smile didn't last long. Quickly, it faded and she looked uncertain if she really wanted to say what she'd been thinking about.

"What is it Harps?"

She hesitated, still debating, then took a deep breath and asked.

"What do you think about James?"

I jolt of surprise went through me, banishing the exhaustion that I'd felt had been weighing me down over the past several days.

I sat up trying to keep my expression neutral, knowing I'd have to be careful about what I said.

So Aaron had been right... Hades, he'd called that a mile away.

"The guy from the Hermes cabin?" I asked trying to keep my tone neutral.

She nodded, looking a little apprehensive.

"Yeah."

"Why?" I asked, perhaps just a touch too quickly because she looked a little annoyed. "Has he been bothering you?"

"Don't pull that crap." She said rolling her eyes and throwing a pillow at me which I easily caught. "Don't act like you and Charlie haven't been keeping tabs on everything he does or getting your little friends to give you information updates."

"Alright." I said putting my hands up in surrender, unable to help but grin a little guiltily. "We may have done a little snooping."

She gave me a warning look, clearly wondering if she should be annoyed with my answer or not, but when I didn't press the issue, she seemed to let her guard down a little.

"The only thing that surprises me is that _you_ haven't said anything yet."

I shrugged.

"It's not really my business." I said which was true, but I didn't like saying it.

I'd known Harper for years now. I'd seen her nearly every day for the past two through school, camp, and Charlie. It felt like practically everything she did was my business, because if it affected her, it affected me.

"You're right about that." She said with a firm nod, then bit her lip. "Still…" her expression relaxed a little as she gave me an uncertain look. "What do you think about him?"

"Why do you care about what I think?" I asked playing for time, trying to figure out the best way to approach this with her while trying not to sound too bias.

"Well," she shrugged. "I know you're obviously going to back Charlie in this situation and he automatically hates pretty much any guy that's in a twenty-foot radius of me, but you're my friend too." She looked a little awkward as she scratched the back of her head, avoiding my eye. "I just wondered what you thought about him."

"Well, he's certainly made it's clear he's interested in you." I said not quite looking at her, but somewhere over her left shoulder.

"Yeah." She agreed, and this time she did look at me. "But that doesn't answer my question. What do you think?"

"I dunno." I said honestly. "There doesn't really seem to be anything overtly wrong with the guy, but he does seem a bit shady."

"That's what Tamera thinks too." She frowned, then, as if against her better judgement, added. "But he has been pretty nice to me."

"Lots of people are nice when they want something from you." I said quietly. "Especially guys."

"You think he wants something from me?" she asked, an eyebrow darting up behind the rim of her glasses. "Like what?"

"C'mon Bambi." I bristled, reverting to the nickname in irritation. Mostly because I didn't want Harper associated with anything someone like James would want from her. "You honestly can't think of something he'd want from a smart, pretty girl like you?"

She didn't even seem to hear the complement. Her brow furrowed further, and she was clearly thinking.

"Besides, I'm sure annoying Charlie just makes it all the more entertaining for him." I added a little bitterly, then mentally adding. 'And me too.'

Harper clearly hadn't noticed, but every time I ran across the two of them together, usually walking to activities or the dining pavilion, he gave me the same expression he did our first time playing against each other on the court. That arrogant smirk, that made me want to toss him into the River Styx and see if he would sink.

"What does Charlie have to do with this?" she asked, her tone irritated and I was snapped out of imaginary scenario of James and a pack of particularly angry hell hounds, back to the conversation. "What? You think he likes me just because he wants to piss Charlie off?"

Her tone was accusatory, and she was getting that look in her eyes that always reminded me who her mother was. It was like steel. Cold and obdurate.

"No." I said shaking my head quickly. "I just think James is the sort of person who might find Charlie's reaction as added entertainment."

The guy did seem to go out of his way to piss Charlie off, not that he would let her see of course. I had a feeling he knew Harper wouldn't find it very funny.

"So you don't like him?" she asked and I could sense the trap in her words.

"I just think you need to be careful with a guy like him." I said judiciously. If I said I didn't like him, she'd assume I had a grudge against James because of Charlie and disregard what I said. But if I denied it, then she might take it as a green light to ignore whatever reservations about James she might be having. "You don't know him all that well. None of us really do. And if you ask me, the guy is just a little too charming around you."

At this, her expression changed.

"Too charming?" she asked, clearly startled into a laugh. "What does that mean?"

"I dunno." I said with a shrug, not really sure how to put what I was thinking. "Most guys. When they like someone, like _really_ like that person. They're not all cool and collected. They're nervous, you know, 'cuz they like you. They don't want to screw things up."

"Huh." She said meditatively. She'd taken the pencil from her ear again, and was biting the end clearly lost in thought.

"Like you and Jasmine?" she asked eventually.

"What?"

"Well, you seem kind of nervous around her lately." She said shrugging. "'Cuz you want to get back together with her, right?"

"Well, yeah. I guess." I said with a slight frown.

Truthfully, I hadn't been thinking of Jasmine at all. I'd been thinking about the day I'd first met Harper, when I'd finally gotten the courage to talk to her and the whole time wondering anxiously if she really wanted to talk to me, or I was annoying her.

There might have been a point right before we'd started dating, when I was nervous around Jasmine, but it had faded pretty quickly after been going out and I'd gotten comfortable around her. These days, the only reason I felt nervous around her now wasn't necessarily because of liking her, but not knowing where things stood with us. The anxiety of not having an answer. I mean, I liked her, but were we dating or not? Sometimes, it seemed like we were, then, as if some sort of switch was flipped, and she would seem more distant. Like there was something she wasn't telling me. And that something was filling the space between us that felt a mile wide.

We lapsed into silence for a moment, before she made a frustrated noise.

"What?" I asked glancing over at her, to see she was standing, holding her glasses out in front of her as she squinted at the lenses.

"I smudged my glasses." She complained trying to clean them on her t shirt, but by her expression I could tell it was only making matters worse.

"I'll grab you some tissues." I said with a chuckle, sliding off the bed moving towards one of the cabinets but she waved me off moving towards the counter with the sink and some of the medical supplies.

"I can find them."

"Seriously, there right- Harper, don't!"

She pulled open a drawer, and immediately started sneezing.

"That's where we keep the herbs." I said trying not to laugh as she slammed the drawer shut, and swore between sneezes.

"Stupid." Sneeze. "Damn." Sneeze. "Flower."

Clearly, she'd opened the drawer with the lavender in it.

Failing to hide a grin, I opened a cabinet and pulled a box of tissues off its middle shelf.

"Here you go sicky." I said, tossing the box towards her across the room, only to feel a pang of shock go through me as I spotted her glasses on the counter. "Oh Gods! Harper I'm sorry…"

"Why?" She asked easily catching the box and opening it.

My mouth fell open.

I stared at her for a good ten seconds as, recovered from her allergy fit, she started to clean the lenses of her glasses.

"What?" she asked when she caught my expression.

"Harper…" I said when I noticed she wasn't squinting to look at me, or having any apparent trouble finding me across the room. "Can…" I hesitated, still not sure I should ask what seemed like such a stupid question. "Can you see without your glasses?"

No. This wasn't possible. I'd known Harper for years, and I'd never seen her without them.

"Yeah." She said as if this should have been obvious.

"You're kidding." I said and she gave me an expression of confusion, as if she couldn't understand why this was so difficult for me to comprehend

"No." she said shaking her head, as if this should have been obvious. "I have twenty-twenty vision, just like Charlie."

"Then why on Olympus's name are you always wearing them?" I asked indignantly.

Even when she'd fallen asleep on the couch when we watched movies or on the way back from a tournament in the car, she always had them on. I'd thought she was practically blind. Even looking at her without them was… weird. She looked older, not like Charlie's little sister…

'Twin' I thought automatically. I always corrected myself, but it was out of habit. It wasn't really like who appeared to their mother first really mattered, but it was just so much easier to think of her as 'off limits' that way. Charlie's little sister, with her glasses and her seemingly endless supply of books.

"Habit." Harper answered with a shrug, putting them on again and I willed myself to try and force the uncomfortable image of the pretty girl in front of me back into the 'little sister' mental classification in which she belonged. "Never know when I find something interesting to read. What language it might be in."

"So you've never needed glasses to see?" I asked indignantly and again she shook her head.

"No."

"Seriously?"

"I don't know what you want me to say Ash," she said with half a smile, her tone a little awkward. "Why do you keep staring at me like that?"

"Nothing." I said shaking my head still trying to banish the feeling that the last few years of my life had been a lie. "It's just… I think I've just had my mind blown."

I was suddenly struck with a thought.

"Harper?"

"Yeah?" she asked going back to the study materials we'd abandoned on the unoccupied beds.

"You always wear your glasses when you're training right? Even with a bow?"

"Yeah." She said distractedly, organizing flash cards and putting her notebooks in a neat stack, before placing them in the book bag she'd brought.

"Have you ever tried shooting without them?"

She stopped and glanced up at me.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Catch this." I said chucking another tissue box at her.

"What the- Hey!" she said annoyed, and there it was.

She'd caught the box, but her reaction time was slower, much slower. She'd squinted through the lenses.

"Harper," I said looking at her critically. "I think your glasses are messing with your depth perception."

"Excuse me?" she asked, the disbelief plain in her words.

"Maybe it's the lenses, or something about the enchantment." I tilted my head to the side as I considered her. "I think it's messing with your long-distance vision."

"Ash, don't you think I would notice if my vision was messed up?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"No." I said shaking my head. "You never take them off. How would you? Plenty of people don't notice they need glasses until something forces them to realize their vision isn't normal and they can't see. People go for years without realizing they've got an astigmatism or something. I see it all the time with new campers in archery lessons. Maybe your problem is like… the reverse."

She frowned, clearly skeptical, but then took off her glasses, blinked, and looked around.

"I…" she started looking at a poster on the wall, reading the text, then lifting her glasses up to check it both with and without the lenses.

"Oh my gods…" she muttered and I burst out laughing.

"No wonder you can't hit a target!" I said still grinning. "You could never see the damn thing."

"This… this can't be the reason why." She said still looking at the poster with and without the glasses.

"Why not?" I asked.

It finally made sense now. How Harper could have perfect form and miss the target so spectacularly. She wasn't aiming for it. She was aiming for where she thought it was.

"Because I'm going to feel stupid if it is." She muttered darkly.

"We should check it out. Are you doing anything after this is over?"

She shook her head, still looking annoyed with herself, and despite being exhausted at the start of my shift, I couldn't wait to get to the practice area. If I was right, if the glasses really had been messing with Harper's long distance vision, then I'd just solved a problem that had been baffling the Athena cabin for years.

The next fifteen minutes snailed by as I waited to be relieved of medic duty, eager to get to the archery fields. Harper didn't say much. She sat there, lost in thought, occasionally taking off her glasses and looking at them, as if she'd never really seen them properly before.

When Zack finally came to relieve me of medic duty, I all but tore out of the infirmary, Harper, still ruminating behind me as we made our way towards the archery fields.

"If this works I'm going to be so annoyed." Harper muttered, tightening the straps around the armguard tighter around her wrist and reaching for my bow.

I was holding her glasses, watching as she she stared down the targets that had been the cause of so much frustration for her over the past several years.

"I'm this works I'm a genius." I said smirking and she rolled her eyes.

She took her stance.

"Alright, remember." I said trying to contain my excitement. "Relaxed grip, slow breaths, pay attention to your form."

"You know I don't need a bow to lodge this arrow in some extremely uncomfortable places, right?" She asked, her eyes snapping to me in irritation and I raised my palms in surrender.

"Alright. Just trying to help."

She huffed an irritated breath, readjusted her stance, then locked her gaze on the target.

The string released with a snap, and I watched, hardly able to believe my eyes as the arrow buried itself into the target.

Dead. Freaking. Center.

I let out a shout of excitement, then looked at Harper who was staring at the target, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

She shot another arrow, and a third, as if she refused to accept the first result. The next two she'd drawn quicker, so they weren't quite on target, but they had hit.

"I don't believe it." she muttered shaking her head as I let out a cry of triumph.

"I'm a genius!" I said victoriously. "Harper! Why are you not excited about this? You hit it! You hit the target three times!"

"It's not that big of a deal…" she mumbled awkwardly scratching the back of her head with an arrow but I pulled her into a tight hug, that lifted her off the ground as we spun.

"Ash!" she shouted but she was laughing.

"I can't believe it." I said letting her go and looking at the target. "You hit it. Harper. I'm so proud of you."

She looked shocked at his, as if she didn't know how she was supposed to react to this, but as I continued to beam at her, she smiled a little.

It was midday, and without her glasses, the sunlight was catching the light green of her eyes, shining like jade. It filtered through her hair, highlighting hints of red and gold, and I couldn't help but think she looked extremely pretty, smiling at me in the sunlight, in a rare moment of vulnerability. I knew she was trying not to, but she looked proud of herself. Happy to finally overcome what was probably one of the biggest insecurities she'd ever had.

I pulled her into another hug, wrapping my arms tightly around her and closing my eyes.

And just for a moment, everything was perfect. It was warm under the sunlight and the familiar smell of paper and Harper's favorite body spray, melon something, reminded me of being home. Sitting with her in class, teasing Charlie about love letters he sent Annie over the year when they were apart, walking to school, hanging out at her house, and being dragged to her favorite bookstore because Charlie was irritated with her and she wasn't allowed to walk there alone.

I forgot about everything that had been worrying me lately. The nightmares, James, where things stood with Jasmine, what Charlie might think if he realized just how close Harper and I had gotten… I mean. It really wasn't that big of a deal. There was nothing wrong with being friends with her.

"Ash!"

I jumped at the sound of my name, startled when I saw Charlie running in our direction.

A jolt of fear went through me and I let go of Harper, taking a hasty step away from her but Charlie hardly even seemed to notice she was there.

"Drop what you're doing." He said and he sounded out of breath, as if he'd been running for a while. "We've got to get to the Big House. Chiron's called for a meeting with all campers on active duty for missions."

He looked extremely serious, which rarely ever happened with Charlie and I glanced at Harper who seemed to be just as puzzled as I was.

"Why?" I asked confused.

We'd just come from Big House. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary.

"He just got a call from Olympus. Something's happened."

My body went cold.

"What?" Harper asked and he blinked, as if he'd only just realized that the person next to me was his sister.

He looked between the two of us for a second then shook his head as if clearing it. He looked back at me.

"Someone tried to break in."


	10. Chapter 10

Hpov

I watched as yet another mission team staggered back over the camp boundary, looking as if they'd clawed their way out of a particular violent tv series. I felt my heart skip a beat, momentarily hoping I would recognize one of the figures. None of them were all that tall, which ruled out Charlie, Ashton, or Tamera.

The boy in the middle was being supported by the other two, his foot bent at at an odd angle which led me to think it was broken. The other two didn't look to be in much better shape with jagged cuts and torn clothes. It was clearly they'd only just been able to make it back to camp.

They were quickly intercepted by medics, who, with all the demigods returning to camp injured, were currently in a semi-permanent state of standby.

I glanced back at the book in my lap, selfishly wishing Ashton was one of them.

He was one of the better healers in camp, and they sometimes pulled him from dangerous outings in the mortal world when they thought they might need more healers back at camp. If Ashton was sidelined it mostly likely meant Charlie would have been as well. They nearly always paired together on missions. But Ashton hadn't been held back, both he and my brother had been sent on a team out beyond the camp boundary. I hadn't heard from either of them for days.

"Are they going to be alright?" asked a boy sitting in front of me, glancing worriedly at campers. He was tiny, probably no more than twelve, with brown hair and wide blue eyes that were worried.

"They'll be fine." I said trying to force a bright smile I didn't feel. I'd decided to hold Greek lessons outside today just to get away from the Big House and the infirmary. Seeing the state of their fellow demigods, even sometimes their brothers and sisters, was starting to upset the younger campers.

Ever since the attempted incursion on Olympus, monster activity had been up in the mortal world and because I was seventeen, and technically was eligible for missions, I'd been in on the meeting Chiron had called. Not that it really meant anything. I'd never been sent anywhere for the camp, and if Charlie had his way, I never would be. He'd tried to keep me from going, but I'd been there to hear what little details Chiron had managed to get from the Gods.

Someone, a demigod they thought, but no one was really sure, had managed to get into Olympus and no one was sure how. They didn't seem to get very far, or take anything, but had vanished almost as quickly as they appeared. It was random, and technically harmless, but the Gods were frantic, not that they'd actually admit it. Olympus wasn't supposed to have entrances, ones that weren't monitored anyways, and the person, whoever they were, hadn't come through New York. The home of the Gods was vulnerable and they didn't know how. Even worse, they didn't know to whom they were vulnerable, or what they were planning.

While the initial scouting parties had been sent out to try and figure out who'd broken in and find answers to these questions, nothing had turned up. Now campers were being sent out to deal with the recent surge in monster activity. From the looks of the people who'd managed to return, it seemed like it was starting to be a losing battle.

"Why don't we end the lesson here today?" I said noticing the tweens in front of me, far from paying attention to their conjugation charts, were looking anxiously at the Big House where the team had been half carried in order to start treatment on their wounds. "I think the Satyrs are starting a volleyball game in a few minutes. Why don't you take a break and see if they'll let you guys jump in?"

They handed in their worksheets and trotted off to the volleyball courts, whispering nervously along the way. I watched them distractedly as I organized the papers, not registering the figure that approached.

I jumped when he spoke.

"You know, you're not a very good liar."

I looked up, pulse racing, to see James.

His arm was in a sling, and he looked amused as he stopped in front of me, as if my reaction was funny.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling the adrenaline filter out of my bloodstream as my heart rate slowed.

"Those guys don't look like they're going to be fine. Not for a while anyways." he said shaking his head and looking over his shoulder at the team that were being escorted to the infirmary, but when he turned back to me, his expression was cutting. "We both know that."

He'd torn something in his shoulder during a fight and was currently suspended from leaving camp as he healed. Apparently, he'd managed to irritated Tamera so much the last time they'd been in the arena together she'd challenged him to spar. He'd hit the ground wrong and injured himself, though to hear Tamera tell it, he'd taken a dive which didn't really make sense to me, but only seemed to annoy her more.

She'd said if he was too much of a coward to fight her for real, he didn't deserve go around running his mouth, even if he'd have to go the medics either way, but something about the situation seemed off to me. James really had hurt himself. The medics had confirmed it. Why not fake an injury if he didn't want to fight her? What was the point in actually injuring himself?

"Maybe." I agreed, not really sure as to why I felt a little stubborn. "But there's no point in scaring the younger campers."

And trying not to scare myself about the condition the people I cared about would be in when I got back...

"You're lucky most little kids aren't too bright." He continued offering a hand free hand to help me stand, all while giving me a significant look. "Though, I'm not sure I would have believed that. Even when I was twelve."

I didn't know what to say to this, so I didn't say anything, I did however, take his hand.

It was a bit awkward. We almost overbalanced as he pulled me to my feet, his rage of motion limited due to the sling, but eventually I was on my feet.

I'd seen a lot of James over the past few days. While Allison was still here, she and her siblings were busy these days. Their hands were full making weapons to replace those lost on the missions and working with the Hecate cabin trying to figure out if there was any invention or magic that could allow a demigod to blip in and out of Olympus without repercussions. Apart from them, everyone I spent a significant amount of time with here at camp was outside of the boundary.

"I take it by your lack of response you haven't heard from your brother of his friend?" He asked and I shook my head.

"They've been gone almost a week." I said quietly.

I'd never been separated from Charlie for this long, not ever. Even when I'd had to get my tonsils removed as a little kid, he'd been so adamant about sticking with me, the doctors had let him walk me back to the operating room.

I still remembered him holding my hand, while I was all loopy on medication, looking determined in oversized scrubs and a hairnet telling me he wouldn't let anything happen to me. He'd been there when I'd woken up from surgery, and pestered my father into letting him sleep in the crappy hospital chair when I'd had to stay overnight.

"He's been on missions before," I continued feeling my stomach clench a little as I spoke. "But they've never been gone more than a few days."

"He'll be fine." James assured me. His tone was confident and he gave me half a smile. "Chase is with him, and so is his friend. Besides," he glanced down at me. "I know he doesn't like me very much, but your brother's pretty stubborn. I don't think he'd allow anything to kill him if only so he could continue to annoy = you."

"Well, that's probably true." I said tersely, but I grinned all the same and felt a little better. He'd been surprisingly good at that over the past few days.

"Still, pretty serious business, isn't it?" he asked in a tone that told me he wanted to change the topic of conversation. "People sneaking into Olympus and all that. Mad isn't it?"

"That's one way of putting it." I muttered frowning.

It seemed like that was all anyone was talking about lately, but something about the situation seemed sort of weird to me.

"How else would you put it?" he asked his brow furrowing, clearly confused and I thought for a moment, trying to put the notion that had taken residence in the back of my mind over the last week into actual words.

"I'm not sure." I admitted with a shrug. We'd been walking towards the cabins, and I saw that several of the kids I'd been instructing had taken my advice and were playing in the impromptu game of volleyball with the Satyrs.

"It just seems a little odd don't you think?" I asked glancing up at him, and he raised an eyebrow.

"What does?"

"That the person who managed to get to Olympus, whoever it was, just sort of showed up. People kept saying they were trying to sneak in, or launch some sort of attack or something. But they left as quickly as they got there. Almost like they hadn't meant to show up where they did, and then panicked when they realized what happened."

I glanced at him, uncertain how my theory would be received. I hadn't mentioned it to anyone but him so far and I wondered if he would think I was crazy.

His expression was impossible to read, and while I couldn't tell what he was thinking, he didn't look upset or skeptical. If anything, he looked interested.

"You'd think if they were _trying_ to get into Olympus, they'd try not to be notice." I continued. "Or would be prepared to encounter any defenses the Gods might have put into place."

I hesitated, not certain if I wanted to say what I really thought, but his lack opposition encouraged me.

"It seems almost like it was an accident if you ask me."

"An accident?" he asked in what was obviously supposed to be disbelief. But while his tone was amused, something about his expression made me wonder if he was taking the words to heart more than he was letting on. "You don't just _accidentally_ end up on Olympus Harper."

"Well then, what's your theory?" I asked stubbornly and he shrugged.

"I dunno, you're supposed to be smart one, aren't you? Even if the camp refuses to utilize it."

Once again, I wasn't exactly sure what to say to this, so I didn't answer and awkwardly readjusted the papers I was carrying. I ended up folding the sheets and putting them in my back pocket, deciding if anyone complained about the creases they could just deal.

"But, just out of curiosity, since you're so smart." He gave me an exaggeratedly meaningful expression, and I felt an eyebrow jump. "How would you do it, you know, if you had to?"

"Do what?" I asked confused and he grinned.

"Break into Olympus."

I felt a jolt of shock go through me at the question, followed by a sense of unease.

"Why would I want to break into Olympus?" I asked hesitantly, unsure this was a line of inquiry I wanted to discuss, especially right now.

He shrugged and looked ahead of us.

"I'm not saying you do, but everyone's talking about it recently. You like thought experiments, don't you?" he glanced back at me his smile growing mischievous. "I figured you might find it an interesting problem to solve."

I shook my head.

"I wouldn't be stupid enough to attempt it."

Something about the statement seemed not to sit right with him because his expression went stiff.

"There's a difference between stupid and desperate." He said so quietly, I almost wasn't sure I'd heard him correctly.

"What?" I asked, confused and concerned, but he shook his head.

"Nothing."

His expression had changed, he looked relaxed again, like he usually did. Vaguely amused and untroubled.

"I, however, am not as wise as you and have several theories on how it might be achieved."

"And you think that's an intelligent use of your time?" I asked darkly and he shrugged.

"It's interesting if nothing else. I did have one I thought you might find intriguing, you know, because of who your mother is."

"Oh yeah?" I asked a little tersely. I didn't like how eager he seemed to be in pushing this topic, or the fact that even though I knew it shouldn't, he was right. A part of me did find this interesting to think about. Already I could feel the cogs in the back of my mind turning, running possibilities without me wanting it to.

Tension set in my shoulders as a sense of disquiet was swept through me. While I couldn't identify what exactly was setting it off, I knew we had to get off the subject. I couldn't really seem to find a good way out of the conversation though.

"Yeah." He pressed and I wondered if he'd noticed my sudden hostility and was just ignoring it, or was just so interested in this topic he couldn't pay attention to much else. "Have you heard the myth of The Cordrian Library?"

I stopped.

"Of course I have." I said indignantly, staring at him, completely thrown. "How have you?"

The Cordrian Library was a legend that people outside of the Athena cabins rarely knew that much about if they'd ever heard of it at all. Codrus was the last of the Kings of the Athens. He didn't get much attention in the legends of the city, but was hailed as a savior, who'd sacrificed himself to the Dorians to ensure the continued of the safety of the city. It was rumored that one of his last acts as king, was to have a library constructed in secret, devoted to the city's patron Goddess, my mother Athena, and all who loved knowledge. It was meant to preserve the wisdom acquired by mankind. He'd hoped such a grand gift would win her favor and continued protection for the city after he was gone.

"You're not the only one who reads." He said with a laugh, but I had a hard time thinking of any books he might have read that would have mentioned it. "I remember reading that the library was special. Open to anyone who wanted to study there, from any realm. If you found a way in."

"The Interrealm." I supplied out of a habit of completing blanks in any and all information I could.

He nodded and he still looked eager, excited even.

"Exactly."

"What about it?" I asked hesitantly.

Legend said that demigods had been involved in the construction of the library, that it had ties to every realm in the world. Mortal _or_ mythological. The idea was that it could be accessed from all locations in order to acquire wisdom and knowledge from all sources. But no one had reported access to the library, or even seeing it, for thousands of years. It was a myth, even to demigods. As far as I knew, it was just a story. Even most of my siblings ignored it.

"Well, if you can reach the library from anywhere, it stands to reason you can exit it, well, anywhere. Doesn't it?" He pointed out, glancing curious at me, clearly hoping I'd weigh in on this theory and I felt my expression darken.

I didn't answer and he continued.

"It just seems like a pretty serious oversight on the part of the Big Three you know? If anyone can enter the library, and just you know," he shrugged. "Pop up in one of their dominions."

"What are you saying James?" I asked stiffly, feeling suspicion rise within me like a snake rearing its head, preparing to strike.

Why was he asking about this? Why did he care so much?

"Nothing Harper, relax." He said defensively, raising his palms. His tone was wounded, as if my suspicion had hurt him. "I honestly sort of forgot about it until recently when people were debating about possible entrances to Olympus. Ones that might be hidden from the Gods. I just wanted to know what you thought. You know, since you _are_ a child of Athena."

"It's just a story." I said continuing to walk, not wanting to look at him. His expression had seemed sincere, as if his curiosity really was academic, but something felt wrong.

"Besides, even if it was real, the Interrealm wouldn't be much use to anyone." I added, determined to put the issue to bed.

"What do you mean?" he asked and his tone was sharp, as if this had caught his attention.

"Because it doesn't work without the key." I said turning to face him, my arms crossed over my chest. "Access to the library is controlled by it's Keeper. Only the Keeper can control the Doors of Dominion, send people through them safely. In the extremely unlikely event someone managed to find a way into the library, even by accident, the doors would just spit them out at random when they tried to leave. Probably to stop people from doing _exactly_ what you're proposing."

"I wasn't proposing anything Harper." He said indignantly. "I just wanted to know what you thought."

"Well it doesn't matter what I think." I said with a shrug. "The last record anyone found that even mentioned a Keeper of the Cordian Library was thousands of years ago, and it said the key was hidden until a new one was appointed. And as far as anyone could tell, the last Keeper died before finding a successor. So even if it did exist, there's no point."

"How do you know that?" he asked confused.

Clearly this information as new to him, and I let out a hollow laugh.

"I've read every book and scroll in the Big House and my cabin." I said shaking my head. "The last records about the library anyone's found was a collection of scrolls, from multiple cultures, all of them allude to locations the key might be hidden. For when someone might be ready to take over and reopen the library."

There had been other information in them as well, stories of strange things happening to those who'd accessed the library when it hadn't been attended. People who'd stumbled across things they shouldn't have in it's volumes, with no guidance or direction from someone who knew what they might be looking at. Reports of gaining strange abilities had been prevalent among them, just as prevalent, were people who'd gone mad. Of course, they were all just legends, anecdotes that had never been confirmed, but then again, mortals thought that the Gods were myths. And demigods were all to aware of just how real the were...

Still, I didn't think it was wise to encourage James. Despite his ability to master his expression, there was a glint in his eyes that told me that if he'd caught even a hint of adventure, he would have gone after it. Even it it was probably just a wild goose chase.

"So I guess if it could have been found, it would have been by now?" He asked and he sounded disappointed.

"Maybe." I said with a shrug. "I might have been the only one who bothered to read them all. They're all different languages, a fair amount of them dead."

A strange expression flashed across his features, looking like some sort of bizarre mix of amusement, irritation, and incredulity.

"What are you, like the human Rosetta stone or something?" he asked raising an eyebrow and I shook my head.

"No. My glasses," I tapped on the rim next to my temple. "They let me read anything." I explained. "In any language."

He froze, and looked at me shocked.

"They do what?"

"They translate whatever I read," I continued, not sure I liked the way he was looking at me, or rather, my glasses. "Into a language I can understand."

"Even the dead ones?"

"Yeah." I said a little surprised at his expression. No one else had seemed to care that much before. It had seemed like only I had thought they were all that special as far as enchanted items went.

"That's amazing." He said softly his eyes scanning over them.

"Yeah, they're pretty useful." I said, absolutely uncomfortable now. He was looking at my glasses as if I'd just said they were made of pure gold.

He just kept staring at them, as if they unlocked a world of possibility.

"Well," I said, clearing my throat after a moment of awkward silence had stretched between us. "I'm going to the Iris cabin."

He blinked, and suddenly, as if remembering we were in a conversation, pulled himself back to reality.

"Going to try and get a message to your brother?"

"Yeah."

By his expression, I knew he was on the verge of giving me the warning he often did. That if Ashton and Charlie were in a tight corner out in the mortal world, they probably wouldn't answer. They hadn't so far, and James himself said demigods on missions rarely did. He must have known it was pointless though, because he didn't.

Instead, he nodded and said.

"Alright. Good luck. I hope you reach them."

"Thanks."

As I walked towards the cabins, I glanced up at the sky automatically, feeling a little assured as I saw the sun brilliant above me like it always was. Surely it had to mean Ashton was alright, didn't it? If he wasn't, I didn't think it would shine the same.

It was stupid thought to have and I knew it, but it gave me comfort. The familiar light and warmth making it feel almost as if Ashton was next to me. And if Ashton was alright, so was Charlie.

I sighed, hating the fact I wasn't with them. I knew I hadn't been sent outside of the boundaries because I'd never been on a mission before. I was old enough, and I could fight, but I had a feeling Chiron wasn't going to send anyone out who hadn't proven they could handle themselves in the mortal world out of the camp right now. Not with the amount of monsters rampaging around currently.

A surge of bitterness went through me.

I wasn't a child. I was smart, and I'd killed plenty of monsters during the school year, with and without the boys' help. I shouldn't have been left behind, I should have been out there with my brother and his best friend, backing them up like I always did during capture the flag and at home.

It was Charlie's fault I'd always been sidelined. I didn't have any proof, but it was something that deep down I just knew. It hadn't bothered me at first, but the older we got, the more he and Ashton had been sent into danger. The more afraid I was they wouldn't come back.

I should be there with them. I should be there to help.

As I walked, my eyes wandered over the cabins, finally landing on the bright structure that belonged to Apollo's children, glowing gold in the sunlight.

Suddenly, the cabin flashed, it's light blinding and an image darted into my mind's eye. A large cavern, a river underground, pages snatched and swirling on a cold gust of wind. White columns carved from marble.

And then it was gone.

I put a hand to my head and swayed, letting out a cry when a surge of pain wracked the inside of my skull.

"Harper!"

I blinked, trying to dispel the after image the cabin's light had burned into my retinas, only feel someone steady me. Their hands were small and gentle, and I caught a familiar smell of flowers and vanilla.

"Harper, are you alright?"

It was Annie.

"I-" I started, not entirely sure I had answer for her question when another voice, this one exhausted but intense, interrupted my thought.

"Annie, what's going on? What happened?"

"Ash?" I asked, wincing a little I searched for him through a haze of confusion, but my thoughts felt sluggish. My body felt heavy.

I let out another cry as the pain struck again accompanied by a second image, just as vivid as the one before it. Four archways, ancient and tall, set in the middle of a stone platform.

"I don't know." Annie said quickly as I shut my eyes, feeling sick. It felt as if my head was splitting itself in two. "She just sort of froze. What happened to you?"

She sounded stunned. Afraid even.

"Don't worry about me." Ashton said stiffly.

My weight shifted, the movement accompanied with a familiar sensation. As if, in the chaos of the world reeling around me, I'd stumbled into a sunbeam and its warmth was washing over me.

Their voices were starting to echo as the pain and my vision dimmed. I caught snatches of what they were saying. 'Charlie' and 'infirmary'.

But their voices were far away now, giving way to the darkness that was creeping in from the corners of my eyes.

"Harper?"

Ashton's voice was gentle and I tried to make my way towards it, urged by questions I knew I should be asking. What was going on? Where was Charlie? Why had Annie seemed so upset?

But they were no match for the weight of gravity that had taken a hold over me and was pulling me, heavily down. Down into the darkness, away from their words and away from the warmth. Away from everything.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone! I know I haven't been uploading a lot recently, and I'm sorry about that. I've had some health issues that have really hampered my ability to write. Even writing ANs was difficult which is why I didn't add one in my last chapter. Hopefully things have taken an upswing which means I'll be able to concentrate more to write and edit faster. Hope everyone has a good weekend and enjoys my latest chapter. As always thanks to everyone who reads/favorites/follows/reviews.

~Secrethalfblood

Apov

I'd managed to get Harper to the infirmary pretty quickly. Even if I was exhausted and bruised from a week of monster fights, it wasn't like she was all that heavy. Besides, I'd hardly seemed to feel the fatigue. The second I'd seen Annie supporting her, I'd snapped right back into survival mode and had been running on it ever since.

"And I thought last summer was bad." Libby said, bustling between the beds in the infirmary, her hot pink scrubs 'swishing' as she walked. "This has got to be like, your worst nightmare huh?"

Her tone was conversational, not cruel, but I didn't really feel like talking to my sister at the moment. Or anyone for that matter. But a bitter part of me reflected on the irony of her words. This was nowhere near my worst nightmare, and seeing as what I was forced to face each night, I should know.

Still, she had a point. Sitting here, looking at both of the Davis twin's unconscious in the infirmary, wasn't exactly fun.

"Say something Ash." She said looking up from taking the pulse of a Satyr on the bed in front of her. He'd gotten heat stroke attempting to distract a dragon so the demigod he was escorting to camp escape.

"You can't will them into healing." She continued crossing her arms over her chest and giving me a pointed look. Her pale blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her blue gray eyes were narrowed at me with professional disapproval. "You should be back at the cabin resting. The only reason you don't have a bed here is because we don't have any to spare."

I glanced around the infirmary, still a little surprised at the fact all of the beds were occupied. This was the first time in a while that the place was full, and while each of the injured were sleeping I didn't much feel like following their example. Even if it was two in the morning.

"I will." I lied. "I just want to make sure they're ok when they wake up."

Charlie had taken a pretty serious fall earlier when our chariot ran into a couple of angry storm spirits. He'd broken several bones and probably fractured his skull. I had no doubt he'd heal, but I wanted to make sure nothing went wrong. As for Harper… Well, I wasn't sure what had happened to her. I'd left the infirmary hoping to find her and Annie, to tell them what had happened to Charlie, and she'd just collapsed. Annie had said that it had happened out of nowhere, and no one seemed to have any explanation as to why.

I looked at her, curled up under a blanket she'd wrapped around her like a burrito. Unlike her Charlie, who was on his back and who's snores were the only thing assuring me he wasn't dead, Harper was on her side. Her face was relaxed, as if she'd just happened to fall asleep in the infirmary instead of being unconscious on arrival.

"Torturing yourself with sleep deprivation won't help anyone." Libby continued with a stern expression and the sort of tone someone would adopt when lecturing a child. "Look at yourself. You look as if you've been used as a battering ram, or a punching bag."

I glanced down automatically, seeing the cuts and bruises that littered my arms. A series of bandages covered an acid burn that ran from my elbow to my wrist, and while as a medic I knew it was bad, I could hardly feel the pain.

I had to make sure my friends were alright. I had to figure out what had happened to Harper. And the more I kept my mind busy, the less my own injuries seemed to matter. I'd gone over what Annie had said what felt like a thousand times in my head. She hadn't been injured. Annie had said she hadn't complained about being sick, none of the her siblings had noticed anything being wrong with her either. So what had happened?

I blinked. I could no longer see the twins.

"What-" I started blinking only to realize Libby was in front of me, standing between me and her patients.

"Go back to the cabin Ashton." She said in what was clearly an attempt to sound sympathetic rather than exasperated, but not quite managing it. "You can't heal anyone in your condition. You need to rest."

I shook my head. I knew what she said was true, but I wasn't going to leave my friends.

"I can wait."

"So can the Davis twins."

"Libby-" I started in irritation but she cut me off, and this time, she couldn't keep the irritation out of her voice.

"No Ash. You're exhausted and you're injured. You're no good in the infirmary as a medic right now and if you refuse to be admitted as a patient then leave." She gestured towards the door. "You're disrupting my concentration and I have people I need to take care of, including your friends."

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. While she was several years younger than me, and at least a foot shorter, there was a glint of steel in her eyes that Harper would have been proud of.

Knowing she wouldn't be moved, I sighed.

She had a point of course, but that didn't stop me from wanting to stay.

"What if I sleep?" I asked trying to make my tone reasonable, if not persuasive.

She was the healer assigned to the infirmary overnight, and while it had never happened before between medics, she did have the authority to kick me out. I had no doubt if I pushed her, she'd go straight to Chiron and have him evict me.

"There's nowhere for you to sleep." She said stubbornly. "Unless you expect you'll be able to fall asleep in that chair."

"There's cots in the closet." I countered which was true. For emergency situations, like battles or a bad fight between campers, usually involving the Ares children, the infirmary had a stash of cots that could be used as extra beds for patients.

She let out a sigh, but relented.

"Fine." She agreed, but it looked as if she wasn't happy about it. "You can stay but _only_ if you sleep." She held up a finger in warning to emphasize her point. "If I see you going over charts or rifling in the medicine cabinets or staring at Harper Davis all moony eyed-"

"Moony eyed?" I interrupted in disgust, making sure to shoot her a look. "I do not look at anyone moony eyed."

"Please." She said rolling her eyes, but she looked a little amused. "You haven't taken your eyes off of her since you got here all panicked. You didn't even ask about Charlie."

"Charlie's fine." I said dismissively.

"Yeah," she said smugly, giving me a knowing expression. "But you didn't know that."

"Shut up Lib." I muttered and she grinned.

"Oh relax." She said words airy as I stood from my seat next to Harper's bed.

My muscles ached and my joins screamed in protest, finally seeming to feel the injuries they'd sustained over the last week but I ignored them.

"I won't tell anyone about your little crush."

I didn't respond to this, mostly because I was too tired. I knew my sister. If she didn't have someone to talk to, she'd give herself something to talk about. She was going to think what she was going to think, and it wasn't worth trying argue with her. It would only distract her from her work.

I pulled one of the cots from the closet as she found a pillow and some blankets in a cupboard above the medication mini fridge.

I thought about placing the cot between the beds of the twins, then decided it felt a bit awkward and set it to the right of Harper's bed between it and the wall.

I could feel exhaustion creeping over me as I made up the blankets, realizing just how stiff my body was. I probably should have showered earlier, to get whatever dirt and monster grime off of me I could have when I'd had the opportunity but it was too late to worry about that now. No doubt the white blankets weren't going to be looking so bright and inviting by the morning, but I didn't really care.

Coming back only to find Harper staggering, supported by Annie had been like walking into one of my nightmares. I couldn't leave, not while she was unconscious and Charlie was in no condition to help her. I'd had to make sure she was ok. Unlike in my nightmares, I could make a difference this time.

My body felt heavy as I laid down on the cot, shifting my weight under the blanket to turn and look at Harper. Hopefully she'd be ok by tomorrow morning…

As if she knew what I'd been thinking Libby's face came into view as she leaned over Harper's bed.

"Stop it." she said sourly, giving me a scowl. "Go to bed."

"Alright." I grumbled turning to face the wall.

I didn't expect to fall asleep easily if at all, but the days of adrenaline and injuries were finally starting to catch up to me. What little sleep I had gotten in the mortal world had been fitful, plagued with nightmares and unrest. But we were back now, and even if the dreams returned, it wasn't as if I wouldn't know where Harper was.

I yawned and felt exhaustion seeping into me, replacing the ache in my muscles as my body relaxed, setting deep into my bones.

If something happened to Harper I was right here next to her. I'd be the first to know.

Comforted by this thought, I closed my eyes and allowed myself, for the first time in a long time, to drift off to sleep, untroubled by worries about what might happen, or what I might see, when I did.

…

I woke up to shouting.

Confused and bleary eyed, I sat up and rubbed my face, trying to kick start my brain into working.

What was going on?

By the light of the room, I could tell several hours had passed and that it was no longer night.

It didn't take long to realize that the voices were familiar. How many times had I heard them before?

The twins were fighting.

"How could you not know what happened?" Charlie shouted as I got painfully to my feet, my body clearly determined to make me pay for refusing to seek medical treatment the night before.

"I. Don't. Know." Harper said and while she wasn't yelling, her tone was tight. As if it were taking all her control not to. I couldn't see her expression, but her shoulders were stiff, as if to brace against his words like she would a physical assault. "I don't remember Charlie. And screaming at me won't make me."

"How can you not remember?" he asked in indignation. "You remember everything! How can you know the author of our math textbook from second grade but not how you ended up unconscious in the infirmary!"

"I don't know!" she replied, frustration finally getting the better of her. She was shouting now. "If I did why, wouldn't I tell you?"

"Ash." He said, his eyes snapping to me. Clearly he'd only just noticed my presence and Harper whirled to face me. "Annie said you were there. What happened to Harper? Why is she here?"

Her eyes went wide went she spotted me, and I figured I still must look pretty beat up, but I didn't have time to think about that now. Charlie looked like he was about to murder something.

"I don't know." I said with a sigh, far too used to their arguments to get too invested on either side. Usually, no matter what the argument started over, somehow both of the twins ended up in the wrong. "I was looking for her and Annie, when I found them, she just sort of collapsed."

I ran my fingers through my hair trying to sort through tired memories, then glanced at Harper. How much sleep had I gotten, three? Four hours?

"How's your head?"

"It's fine." She assured me, her tone soft. She really did look ok. If anything, she looked concerned about me.

"I think we should let him be the judge of that."

"He doesn't-" Harper started, sounding exasperated, but he ignored her and looked at me.

"You should probably make sure she's really ok."

"Charlie, I'm fine." Harper snapped, a tone of finality in her words that she rarely had with her brother. She looked angry. "Ashton's not your personal medical unit. Can't you see he's exhausted?"

"I-" he started, looking hurt but also a little guilty. "I never said-"

"Oh my gods _shut up_." A voice spat from the opposite side of the room, clearly annoyed.

We all turned to see one of the Ares brother, a bandage around his head, sitting up in his bed, his blankets falling away from his hulking frame as he glared at us.

"Some of us are trying to sleep." He continued sourly, and I glanced around the room to see he wasn't the only patient the argument had woken up. "I don't care if the Aphrodite campers never shut up about it. If I have to hear one more word about the Ashton-Davis twin drama I'm going to punch a hole in the wall. Maybe one of your skulls." His expression brightened at this last thought. "Any volunteers?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about meathead." Charlie said with venom, show casing not for the first time just how quickly he could go from angry with Harper, to defending her.

I felt myself frown while Harper just looked confused, but before anyone could ask him what he meant, the door opened.

"Is there a reason people are shouting in my infirmary?" a mild voice asked, and everyone turned to the door to see Chiron and Libby walking through it.

Libby looked tired and irritated, and I figured she'd gone to get the camp director rather than deal with the argument herself after an overnight shift. Candice shuffled in after them looking apprehensive, and I figured she must have been the next medic on duty.

"Well?" Chiron asked, looking between the twins and while Harper looked embarrassed, Charlie crossed his arms over his chest.

"I think you should keep Harper out of the game of capture the flag tomorrow."

"What?" she asked furiously and Chiron's expression shifted to one of surprise.

"That's a pretty bold statement." He said with a frown as he looked at Charlie. "Do you have a reason why you think your sister shouldn't participate?"

"No one seems to have any idea what happened to her." Charlie answered as Harper rubbed her temples in exasperation.

"Oh my gods Charlie…"

"She collapsed out of nowhere, who's to say it won't happen in the middle of the game?"

"I see," Chiron said with a frown, his tone contemplative. He glanced at Harper then back to Charlie before saying. "And are you or Ashton planning to skip the game as well? Given your current condition."

"We'll be fine by tomorrow." Charlie said easily and she glared at him.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"What do you think Libby?" Chiron asked looking at her and she seemed surprised to be addressed. "You've been monitoring Harper's condition. Do you think she'll be fit for the game tomorrow?"

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her." Libby said with a shrug. "If she feels alright today I think it should be ok. Her vitals are fine."

"But-" Charlie started in protest, but Chiron cut him off.

"Enough Charlie. If Libby says Harper's fit for combat there's no reason she can't participate tomorrow."

Harper was still glaring at her brother, but if she'd expected Chiron's words to cause Charlie to back down, she was mistaken.

"Well you're not going to be on our team." He said shaking his head.

Harper's eyes went wide behind her glasses, the flash of hurt that crossed her features evident.

"Charlie…" I said, trying to interject a note of common sense into his tone.

We always sided together in capture the flag. Ever since I'd first met the Davis twins, and they'd paired together since before that. No matter what their siblings were doing, the twins were a package deal. Everyone knew that.

"Stay out of this Ash." He snapped then glared at his sister. "Good luck convincing Chase you're not going to help us win tomorrow. He's never going to let you on his team."

That was probably true. It was part of the reason that out of our group of friends, Charlie and I had never been that close with Chase. We always ended up on opposite sides in capture the flag, and he took it far too seriously. Probably because he lost more than he won. I figured it was why Chase got along with James so well, he evened the odds between the usual teams. And Chase would never let Charlie's twin on his team. He'd never trust her enough.

"Dude…" I said quietly, but both Charlie and Harper ignored me.

She looked like she wanted to hit him and he glared resolutely back. It was one of those rare moments that his eyes were as stubborn as hers, maybe even more so, with that same cold certainty and steel that only people with extreme intelligence could manage. It was the look of someone who knew they were right, and they didn't care if other people could understand why or not. Even if they thought it was cruel.

Harper didn't hit Charlie, which sort of surprised me, but I'd never seen the look she'd given him either. She looked disgusted, as if for the first time after spending their entire lives together, she'd only just seen who he really was, and she despised it.

"I am so sick of you acting like you own me." she said and while her tone was icy, her voice was shaking with repressed fury. "Screw you. I'm not a little kid. I can decide what I want for myself."

And with that, she turned and stormed out of the infirmary, anger blazing in her eyes.

"Harper, wait-" I started, reaching after her, but she tore herself out of my reach and while I was tempted to go after, her Libby spoke up.

"Don't even think about it Ash." She said putting her hands on her hips. "You've delayed treatment long enough, besides, we were going to discharge her anyways."

I glanced at Charlie, who looked as if his sister had slapped him, then back at the door, and let out a sigh. I sat on the bed that was apparently no longer Harper's, knowing how stupid going after her would have been, but part of me wishing I had anyways.

Libby was right. I needed to recover, and I winced as Candice started inspecting some of my deeper cuts, cleaning the ones showing signs of infection.

Charlie was still staring at the door his sister had just slammed behind her. His eyes darted to me when he noticed.

"Don't look at me like that." He said defensively. "Someone had to say it."

Everyone in the infirmary was looking at him, some of the other patients whispering to each other about what had just happened. Well, everyone with the exception of the Ares boy, who'd turned his back to us, resolutely ignoring our conversation in an obvious attempt to go back to sleep.

"It's just capture the flag…" I said, uncertain if I really wanted to continue the argument with my best friend but he shook his head.

He didn't look angry anymore however, he just looked tired.

"You don't get it Ash."

Both Chiron had Libby had left the room now, Chiron no doubt to get started on his duties as the camp director now that the argument had, for lack of a better word, been resolved, and Libby to get some sleep after her shift.

"No I do." I said wincing as Candice dabbed a cotton ball of rubbing alcohol against my burn, clearly too intent on her work to pay attention to anything either of us were saying. "You don't want her to get hurt. I get that."

"No, Ash," he said stiffly. "You really don't."

His arms were crossed over his chest, and his gaze was far away, as if he wasn't really seeing the infirmary but something beyond it.

"What are you talking about?" I asked and I was almost annoyed.

I'd was used to Charlie's paranoia about Harper, I'd seen it for years. But even I had to admit, this was getting a little extreme. She might not have been my sister, but I still cared about her. Still wanted her to be safe. But the way he was acting was as if she'd just announced her intention's of base jumping into Tartarus, not a simple game of capture the flag. What was going on?

"There's a reason for the things I do when it comes to my sister." He said and despite the conviction in his tone, I could see this disquiet in his eyes. He didn't like angering her. As different as the Davis siblings were, she was still his twin. His only full blooded sibling. I was pretty sure there wasn't a person on this earth he cared about more than her. Maybe not even Annie.

"I don't expect you to understand. But she's my sister. I'm not going to let anything happen to her." He glanced at me. "And I know you wouldn't either. You're my best friend Ash, but you're just going to have to trust me on this."

For the first time, I felt of flash resentment go through me as he said this, followed immediately by a surge of guilt.

It felt as if two part were warring against each other inside of me, threatening to tear me in half.

Yes, Charlie was my best friend, but he didn't have a monopoly on caring about Harper. They had plenty of siblings, and none of them were freaking out like this. She had friends, and I was one of them. Why did he have to put me in the middle? Why did I have to choose loyalty between the two? Charlie's protectiveness had always been a point of contention between the twins. While it had seemed normal when we were younger, the older we got even I had to admit, it was getting a little out of control. If I really was his best friend, and he had a reason for being as paranoid about his sister as he was, why couldn't I know it?

Harper had looked so angry earlier, and a part of me couldn't help but wonder if his attempts to 'protect' his sister, weren't starting to suffocate her.

"If you say so man." I said quietly, uncertain if I was doing the right thing in agreeing with him.

But, in the end he _was_ my best friend. And when it came down to it, I knew Charlie wouldn't want to hurt his sister. If he was upsetting her, it wasn't to be cruel. That much I knew. I just wish I knew what he did, why all of this necessary. Or why he wouldn't tell me what it was.

I noticed the other occupants of the infirmary were still whispering to each other, and I knew the events of this morning would be spreading around the camp like wild fire as soon as one of them was discharged.

I glanced at the Ares boy, who'd folded his pillow over the back of his head as he laid on his side, clearly trying to block out our conversation.

I couldn't help but think of what he'd said. The 'Ashton-Davis twin drama'.

'What had that meant?' I wondered, letting a beam of sunlight that was falling through the window the window detach itself from the others and wind around my fingers.

The twins fought occasionally, well, maybe more than occasionally, but it never really involved me. So, where did the drama part come in? And why would the Aphrodite kids want to talk about it?

Without really meaning to, I thought about Jasmine, and her expression when she'd asked about Harper, about why I called Harper by a nickname that annoyed her.

I'd never really thought Jasmine thought all that much about Harper, but it was clear that she'd been uncomfortable. In a way that made me think now that maybe she knew more about Harper than I'd originally assumed.

What were the Aphrodite kids saying?

Part of me was curious, but the other part of me was certain that I didn't want to know. That it wouldn't only make things even more complicated than they already were.

"You don't think she'll hate me for too long, do you?" Charlie asked suddenly and I glanced at him warily.

The question was unexpected, and I wasn't sure how to answer it.

The truth was I wasn't sure. Charlie had pulled a lot of stunts in the name of protecting his sister, and she usually got over it, but her expression when she'd stormed out of the room… I'd never seen her looking that angry before.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." I assured him out of habit and he nodded, looking a little relieved.

But while it clearly made him feel better, a knot of unease was tightening in my chest, and a feeling of anxiety was settling in my stomach. Despite the fact that I wanted to put Charlie's worries at ease, I couldn't help but think I might be making a mistake in saying it.


	12. Chapter 12

hello all! hope you all are doing well. Thank you for the positive support! Hope you like the latest chapter.

~secrethalfblood

Hpov

I wasn't sure why I hadn't told Charlie the truth about remembering what had happened before I'd passed out, what I did know however, was by the reaction he'd had when he'd seen me there, was that I'd made the right choice.

I glared at the target, the arrow stuck not in the center but close. It had buried itself in the middle ring, just outside the bullseye. A good shot, but so annoyingly close to a great shot I couldn't appreciate it.

'Story of my life.' I thought a little bitterly. 'Always coming up just a bit short.'

I was a good fighter, but not a great one. I was a decent strategist, but no one ever took me that seriously when we made plans for capture the flag. I'd even go as far as to admit I was pretty. But not pretty enough that anyone stuck around long after Charlie made it clear he was going to give them hell. Now, I couldn't even make sense of what I'd seen before I'd collapsed in the middle of camp.

I closed my eyes and exhaled for what felt like the hundredth time this morning, recounting the events yesterday trying to remember what I'd seen. I'd seen the Apollo cabin, was wondering if Ashton and Charlie were alright, and then…

The images flashed to life in my mind, a cavern, books, the archways, but they faded as quickly as they came, leaving nothing more than a hollow sensation that I had failed.

Why couldn't I figure this out? What was wrong with me? I was supposed to be smart. I was supposed to be the person who knew things.

What was going on?

Not knowing what else to do with it, I felt my irritation spread towards the second most obvious target other than myself.

'What was Charlie's problem anyways?' I thought bitterly, opening my eyes and glaring at the target.

I was sure part of the reason I couldn't make sense of what was happening to me was my general lack of experience with the mythological world and life in general. He never seemed to want me to do anything of consequence on my own. Capture the flag? We always did his offensives. Leaving camp? He'd managed to sideline me. Even at school, no one wanted to deal with me if it meant upsetting Charlie. Especially guys.

Anger and frustration surging through me, I took a dagger from my belt and threw it. This time, it hit.

Breathing hard, I glared at the weapon, thrown with such force it the blade had torn through the canvas of the target up to the hilt.

"Nice throw."

Well, maybe not no one.

Annoyed, not wanting to talk to anyone, I whirled, notching an arrow and pointing it directly at James who'd had the misfortune to stumble across me at a bad time.

"Why does everyone act surprise I can fight?" I asked irritated, knowing I probably looked insane but unable to help myself. "My mother is a Goddess of war. You'd think someone would remember that."

"Well, you _were_ the one to tell me your aim is terrible." He said raising his palms in surrender, and while his tone was calm, he looked a little unnerved. The sling was gone today and I realized his shoulder must have healed. "Who said anything about you not being able to fight?"

I glared at him for a second longer, then turned back to the target and shot again without answering.

"You're not wearing your glasses." He pointed out, gesturing towards them hanging on the collar of my camp shirt.

"How observant of you."

"You should take them off more often." He continued. "Your eyes are lovely."

I knew I was being horrible right now, and James didn't deserve to bear the brunt of my anger with Charlie and myself, but I couldn't seem to stop it. Something about his attempts at flirting was just infuriating me right now, and I wasn't sure why.

I let my gaze fall over him, hoping he'd take the hint, but to my surprise, his lip quirked up into a half smile.

"You know, when I first got to camp, my brothers warned not to mess with the girls in the Athena cabin. That you were an intense lot. I can't exactly remember the words, but it was something along the lines of, if you annoyed them enough, they could probably kill you and not get caught."

"And yet you're still talking…" I muttered.

He laughed.

"Well yeah," he said as if this should have been obvious. He lowered his hands and gave me a significant expression. "I don't know if you've picked up on it or not, but I like you."

"Why?" I asked sourly.

I'd never understood it. James was popular, he was an extrovert and I hadn't really show much interest. Surely someone as good looking as he him would have his pick of girls around camp. One that would probably require a lot less effort.

He shrugged.

"What's not to like? You're attractive, you're smart. And I don't think you're actually going to shoot me, though," he frowned a little as if reconsidering this statement. "I could be wrong about that."

"You've got pretty low standards if 'not shooting you' enters the realm of your dating criteria."

"Yeah? What's yours?" He asked raising an eyebrow, but when he continued, his tone was playful, not insulting. "Because so far I'm pretty sure 'Not afraid of my brother' is at the top which is _kind of_ sad."

I glowered at him, but didn't really have an argument.

"Ok that's fair." I admitted putting the bow down and his grin grew.

"Besides, you like books." He added. "That's always a plus."

I wanted to ask why this mattered to him, seeing as he didn't seem to read all that much, but decided just to let it go.

"Speaking of Charlie, what did he do?"

"What makes you think he did anything?"

"Is there really anyone else that annoys you that much?" he asked nodding in the direction of the dagger that was still embedded in the target.

I glanced at it wondering if there was really any point in arguing, then sighed.

"I guess you have a point." I muttered, tilting my head slightly as I rubbed my temple with the base of my palm.

The anger was starting to drain out of me now, leaving a sense of exhaustion behind it. I could already feel a head ache coming on and it wasn't even ten AM.

"He got me barred from the capture the flag game tomorrow." I said hating the hint of resignation even I could hear in the words.

James frowned and put his hands in his pockets, as if considering the statement and how he should respond.

"Yeah, I heard you were in the infirmary last night. You ok?"

"I'm fine." I said shaking my head. I was fine. Frustrated I couldn't understand what I'd seen, but fine. "Which is why this whole thing about him trying to stop me from playing is stupid."

"Surely that isn't his decision." James said sounding a little confused. "Did Chiron say you couldn't participate?"

"No." I said sourly.

"So then what's the problem?"

"It's Charlie." I said which for most people would have been explanation enough, but only made James raise an eyebrow. "He's not going to listen to Chiron. He's still going to stop me."

"But… how?" he pressed, as if he didn't understand. "It's not as if he can stop you from turning up."

He said it as if this were obvious, and I let out a long sigh, knowing most people would understand, but not James. Charlie had never seemed to bother him. And Charlie had been gunning for him since the day we'd first spoken.

"He'll find a way." I said with a defeated shrug. "Either stick Ashton on me for the entire game or convince my team not to work with me."

"So then join mine." He said with a shrug. "Your friend Tamera isn't here to complain about it, and I'm sure Chase would love to have Allison on his side. He's been complaining about having to deal with her traps for weeks."

"But what about Charlie?" I asked with a frown.

We were always on the same team.

"What about him?" James asked shrugging. "Doesn't seem like he was thinking about you much. And from what it sounds like, you weren't going to be on his team this week either way."

That was true. It was clear Charlie was going to do whatever he could not to let me join in on capture the flag this week, and knowing how stubborn he was, he'd probably make it happen. But if I was on the other team…

"I don't think Chase would be very happy letting me on his team." I argued, echoing my brother's argument earlier this morning.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"Well…" I said a little surprised at the question, then feeling a bit like a broken record. "Because of-"

"Charlie?" he asked and while I wanted to agree with him, something about his expression stopped me in my tracks. It was thoughtful, and what he said next surprised me.

"I thought you didn't want to be defined by your brother."

"I don't." I said automatically.

"Then why are you letting him get in the way of joining a different team?"

"Well, because he's my brother." I said with a frown.

Charlie and I had always been together. Even if we didn't get along, we would always be there for each other. That's just how it was.

"Well then, wouldn't he get over it?" he asked, and once again, I didn't have a reply.

I wanted to argue against this logic because something about it seemed wrong, but I couldn't. I mean, would Charlie be upset I joined James and Chase's team this week. Probably. But would he get over it?

Yeah. Yeah he probably would. But even thinking about leaving Charlie behind and pairing up with someone else just felt wrong. But other campers did it all the time, joined teams against their siblings to play with their friends. Did the fact this seemed disloyal to my cabin and my twin stem from the fact that it was, or just that I'd never done it before?

"From where I'm standing Harper," James continued, as if he could read my thoughts. "the only person getting in the way of you playing this week, is you."

Maybe he had a point.

"You really think Chase would be cool with it?" I asked hesitantly and he laughed.

"Don't worry about Chase." He continued easily, waving away my concern. "I'll vouch for you. Besides," he gave me a sly smile. "I think he'd rather like the idea of annoying Charlie by putting you on his team. Can you imagine if we won?"

His grin was wide now, and I remembered what Ashton had said, about James finding the idea of irritating Charlie amusing.

Still, as much as I wanted to stick to Charlie right now, it felt weird even considering leaving him to fend for himself in the chaos that was capture the flag. Even weirder considering being on the opposite side.

He tended to be a little reckless in fights. It had never mattered because he always had Ashton and I to cover for him, but if I joined Chase and James, I wouldn't be there. Even worse, I might be expected to exploit it. And where would that leave Ashton?

"You don't have to." James said, clearly sensing my hesitation. "I just figured you'd want to join, you know. Seeing as your mother _is_ a Goddess of war."

His tone was significant, as was his smirk and while I smiled, I remembered what Ashton had warned when I'd asked him about James and what he thought. He wasn't the only person who'd warned me either.

"You know, Ashton says you're too charming around me." I said wondering how he would react to this. "He says most guys are nervous around a girl they like."

He looked a little surprised at this, then annoyed.

"That's a bit ironic don't you think?" he asked and I was confused.

"What do you mean?"

He considered me for a moment, and when he spoke, his words were derisive.

"Your brother's friend is hardly a paragon of honesty when it comes to romantic intent."

I frowned, trying to figure out what he meant by this.

"What are you talking about?" I asked feeling my eyes narrow and he shook his head.

"Never mind. Look, if you don't want to fight against your siblings, I get it, but if you want to a team to play on tomorrow, you're welcome to ours. I'll convince Chase to take you on."

A little surprised by the abrupt change in subject, I stared at him for a moment, wondering if I wanted to press him on his earlier comments, but decided against it.

"Thanks." I said eventually. "Yeah, I think I'll take you up on the offer."

"Brilliant." He said and he did seem genuinely pleased. "I'll let Chase know."

"Cool." I nodded and he smiled.

"Meet us outside the armory after dinner tonight, we can get your armor fitted with your new team color."

"Sounds good."

He gave me one last smile and I returned it, not sure if it was him that was causing my heart rate to pick up, or the idea of playing my first game of capture the flag without Charlie. The first time I'd ever not been on his side.

It was a strange thing to think about and somewhat scary, but also sort of exciting. I'd always felt running after Charlie when he jumped into battle, consequences be damned, caused me to be permanently tethered to a role of back up or support. I never really had a chance of doing what I wanted during a game. I was always making sure he didn't get himself killed.

I wondered, if not being on his team meant that maybe I'd get to be the one making the choices this time.

I grinned a little, and while a part of me felt guilty about it, it was eclipsed by the feeling of possibility. Maybe, finally after years of being 'Charlie's twin', people might see me on the battle field for what I could do. Not who I was related to.

Apov

The hours leading up to the game of capture the flag were strange to say the least.

Our team had panicked last night when they realized Harper, who'd been in charge of our defense strategy, had decided to join Chase's team. We'd spent hours scrambling trying to come up with a new plan, and then most of today trying to make sure everyone had been updated. We'd been so busy, I'd almost forgotten that the new plan, wasn't Harper's. Now that it was almost time for the game, and we'd had some time to get used to the idea, it was starting to sink in.

"You ok?" I said with, dropping my bag on the side of the black top and looking at Charlie.

Charlie hadn't reacted the way I'd expected him to when he'd heard the news that Harper had switched teams. Part of me thought he might try to kill James, or at least get into a shouting match with Chase, but he hadn't. He'd just seemed upset, as if he knew it was his fault, then went about business as usual when planning a new strategy.

This was surprising to me. Charlie didn't usually have a lot of insight and he generally went mental when people tried to come between him and his twin. But when his siblings and I had asked him what he wanted to do about the situation, he'd simply shrugged and 'There's nothing we can do.'

Maybe that's why this whole situation felt wrong. Even Charlie himself had known he'd crossed a line he shouldn't have and this was something Harper wasn't just going to get over.

He didn't answer, only shrugged and tossed me the basketball he'd been about to shoot and I took a spot on the three-point line.

I didn't miss. I rarely did.

"Did you change the frequencies on the flash grenades like she suggested?" I asked.

During the last game, we'd manage to rig a series of traps that could set them off in timed intervals, so we could herd attacking parties away from our flag, but we hadn't ended up using them. It was only the weekend after that Harper and her friends Allison had noticed flaw in the timers that made them vulnerable. If exposed to the right signal, it could set them all off at once.

"I don't really want to talk about Harper right now." He said with a motion as if he could wave the offending topic away.

I didn't say anything to this. Just went after the ball, tossed it to him and watched as he squared up for another shot. Despite claiming he didn't want to talk about her, her continued with.

"I mean, I knew she'd be mad, but not this mad. I sort of thought she'd have gotten over it by now. Or someone else would have talked her out of it."

That was another thing I found strange about this whole situation. No one really seemed to care all that much that Harper Davis was no longer on the majority Athenian team. I'd expected everyone to be talking about it, it was after all, more unexpected than hell freezing over, but no one really seemed to care. They were far too busy talking about how James, notorious around camp for being a flirt, had made so much effort in convincing Chase just to get this girl on the team. If anything, I found that even worse.

"I just can't believe she let that guy convince her." he said shaking his head, then seemed to consider his words. "I dunno. Do you think I was out of line?"

He tossed me the ball again, and I took more time than I needed to to line up my shot, just to give me a couple moments to think.

The honest answer was yes.

I did think Charlie was out of line. He said he didn't understand how James could convince her to switch teams but, did he really need to do that much convincing? There was no reason for him to treat Harper the way he did and while he said it was out of concern, he wasn't like this about his other siblings.

I didn't say any of this though. I shot the ball towards the hoop and watched it go in, and as I walked to retrieve it I said.

"I dunno."

I hated being caught between the twins, and it seemed like it was happening more and more lately. It had been easier before, when all they only fought about stupid stuff and the thing I was certain the most about in my life was that Charlie was my best friend in the world, but now… Now I wasn't sure what to do. I honestly thought Charlie was wrong and Harper, well, she wasn't exactly only his sister to me…

"I guess we just gotta make it thought tonight then." He said quietly.

We continued to shoot for the next hour or so, during which neither of us spoke much. I had a feeling we were both lost in thought, wondering how the relationship between Harper and Charlie had gotten to this point.

As the sun started to sink, we made our way towards the woods, meeting up with the rest of the team. Unlike in previous weeks, I noticed they looked uneasy.

Not only had we lost our head defense strategist, but we'd lost Allison as well, who could work up some pretty devious obstacles. Only now that we were up against them, did I really consider what a daunting combination intelligence and technical skill like that was.

I wasn't the only one with this on my mind either.

"I'm worried about what Harper's come up with." Terry said his brow furrowing as we took our positions. "I know we changed our plan, but we didn't have a lot of time. And she knows what our resources are. I can't say I like the idea that Chase might hand over the keys and make her the brain of their operation."

"The plan is solid." Charlie said stubbornly, his jaw set. "Besides, Harper's more defensively minded. She probably will have focused keeping us away from the flag. She won't expect us to be back here."

"You always underestimate her." Terry said darkly, voicing the retort I'd bitten back. "The only reason she's got so much practice with defensive strategy is because you take over the offensives and she doesn't fight you on it. But have either one have you beaten her in Chess?"

"No." I said while Charlie frowned, looking a little taken back.

"She plays chess?" He then turned to me. "Wait, _you_ play chess?"

"We had a lot of time to kill when Annie visited you over spring break." I said with a shrug.

"The point I'm trying to make." Terry cutting over conversation between Charlie and I before it could form. "Is that Harper can be offensively aggressive if given the right conditions. Our sister is far more comfortable with strategic loss than I think you want to admit Charlie."

Charlie looked a little annoyed at this, but before I could respond, I heard branch snap.

"What was that?" He said as each of us turned towards the noise.

The game had only just started, and while it was still a good hour or two before the sun truly set, the cover of the trees set everything into shadow.

I squinted, trying to get a better picture of what was moving towards us in the gloom, training my bow on the place I'd thought I'd heard the noise.

"Look what we found." Annie's voice said cheerfully as she, Sabrina, and several of our teammates stepped out of the trees.

Her sword was trained between James's shoulder blade. Sabrina's spear was set between Chase's.

I saw with a jolt, both boys hands were in the air, their weapons nowhere to be seen. They'd been captured. Terry's eyes went wide as Charlie let out a shout of laughter.

"We caught them trying to sneak over the border." Sabrina said proudly.

"Clearly they weren't doing a very good job." Charlie said triumphantly, grinning smugly at the pair. "That didn't take very long."

While Charlie looked thrilled to have two high ranking members of the opposite team captured, I noticed Terry frown, and I couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

It shouldn't have been that easy.

"How's stealing our sister working out for you Chase?" Charlie taunted, and while his words were directed towards Chase, his smirk was aimed at James.

James's expression haughty, as if the complication of being held at hostage was little more than an inconvenience, but to my surprise, and further disquiet, Chase grinned. They were far too calm for their situation in my opinion.

"Have you ever wondered why I never wanted to be on a team with you Charlie?"

"Not really, no."

"It's because you're so arrogant. You're sister's a smart girl. Who says me wanting a new strategist had anything to do with you?"

"You really expect me to believe I had nothing to do with it?" Charlie asked raising an eyebrow.

"No." Chase admitted. "I don't."

I noticed James, who was starting to look incredibly bored, had lowered his hands.

They were in his pockets now, apparently unperturbed to be in enemy territory and surrounded.

"But let me ask you something." Chase's smile had widened now, something about it was slightly evil. His hands were still over his head, but three fingers where held up. As if he were counting down.

"Did you change the frequencies for the flash bombs like she suggested?"

Terry's eyes went wide.

"Charlie-" he started.

"Get down!" I shouted tackling the others as James made a swift movement.

As I hit the ground, I saw his hands were no longer in his pocket, but holding a device. A transmitter.

The forest around us seemed to explode.

Chaos reigned as around us, blinding flashes and concussive blasts erupted between the trees in a single, massive assault. Before I could even attempt to regain my bearings, I was grabbed.

I was pulled roughly to my feet, attempting to struggle but it was no use. I still couldn't see, and my ears were ringing. Disoriented, I blinked rapidly, trying to regain my vision and attempting to make sense of the muffled voices around me.

"I'm guessing it worked." I heard as slowly, my senses came back to me and our situation came into view.

At least a dozen member of Chase's team had stepped out of the woods around us, clearly having followed Sabrina and Annie back to our position when they'd 'captured' him and James.

I realized the voice had belonged to Allison who'd reached up to pull out the ear plugs she'd been wearing, as was the majority of her team.

"Like a charm." James said from behind me, and I realized it was he who'd forced me to my feet.

Chase had managed to get a hold of Charlie, while the other had been captured by various members of the opposing team.

"Let go of her!" Charlie shouted at one of the Hermes campers, who's arm was around Annie, keeping in her place despite her struggles.

"That can be arranged." Chase said with a shrug, pressing a blade between his shoulders. "You just need to tell us where your flag is."

Charlie didn't answer, only redoubled his efforts to throw Chase off, throwing in a couple of swear words.

"Don't waste your breath. He's not going to tell you." James said mildly, a hint of amused distain in his tone. "It's not in his nature. He'd rather rescue her."

His grip on me tightened and I felt a point dig in my lower back.

"What about you sunshine?" he asked his tone cheerful despite the edge of steel underneath his words. "Are you going to tell us what we want to know? We found your little girlfriend and her brother by the way. "

A flash of fear went through me as I thought of Jasmine and Aaron who'd been scouting along the perimeter together. I had no way of knowing if what if he said was true, but it wouldn't be impossible for their reinforcements to capture them if they'd run into each other.

"Knock it off James." A voice said annoyed, and a shock went through me as I realized it was Harper's.

Instinctively, I looked towards it to see her walking into the center of the ring her and her teammates had created.

"Stop trying to force leverage, we don't need it."

While I knew she was no longer on our team, it was still a jolt to see her in Chase's colors. Her hair had been pulled back into a long braid that trailed out from under her helmet and down the back of her armor, and there was a cut on her arm. She didn't look rattled however, and I was surprised at how everyone had turned towards her, clearly waiting for her to make the next move. While Harper had always been a part of our strategies on our team, no one had ever looked at her to make in game decisions. It had always seemed like other people had been in charge.

She looked around to see who was in the area, her eyes landing over her brothers, her sister, and finally, on me.

She seemed to think for a second, clearly debating what the best move would be, before she stepped in front of me.

She crossed her arms over her chest, completely ignoring Charlie, and considered me. Not for the first time, when her eyes met mine, it felt as if she was looking right through me.

"Cave, hollow, or hill?" she asked and I winced.

How had she known?

"What are you talking about Davis?" Chase said gruffly, and I could tell that despite what he'd said about wanting a new strategist, Chase was uneasy about having one of the Athena campers on his team.

"I've coordinated the defenses for this team more time than I can count." She said not taking her eyes off of me. "I've memorized the features in this territory, there's only three places that they'd consider an acceptable location for their flag. Just outside a cave entrance where they can stash extra weapons, a hill with difficult terrain to slow down our offense, or a hollowed-out tree that's been dead for the last several months. An easy place to hide the flag from most angles, and still have it technically be visible."

"How do you know it's near here?" James asked and at this she grinned a little.

"Because they've had less than twenty four hours to come up with a plan." This time she did look away, back to Terry and Charlie who looked tense. "My brothers wouldn't leave it to anyone else. They'd want to be close by."

She turned back to me.

"So, which is it?"

Without really meaning to, I looked at Charlie and the rest of our friends. He and Annie were still struggling against their captures, while Sabrina looked pretty much like I felt. Like she knew we'd lost. Unable to help myself, I looked over her shoulder, in the direction the team had congregated before the game.

"We can check them all." Chase said gruffly though he sounded hesitant. "It might take longer but we've got a fair amount of their big players taken out of the game right here."

"We don't have to." Harper said and she was smiling. "I know where it is."

She looked back at Chase

"C'mon." she said nodding to him and motioning for him to follow her.

I realized with a sinking feeling, she was heading in the right direction. Towards the clearing with the hollowed out tree. She really did know.

Her friend Allison, who was also grinning, quickly skipped after her, and after a moment's hesitation, Chase handed Charlie off to a team member and did the same. It was clear from Chase's expression he didn't know what had just happened, but by the way James laughed, it was clear he had.

"Blimey sunshine." He said his tone clearly amused. "She read you like an open book. Honestly that was a bit sad."

Anger flashed through me, and while I didn't bother to struggle like Charlie and Annie as I was handed off, fury coursed through me like poison. I'd never really hated anyone before, but a surge of resentment was swelling within me now, sped along with a burning feeling of dislike.

"You don't know anything about Harper." I said angrily turning to face him as one of the Ares brothers grabbed me, and James handed him my bow.

"Oh yeah?" he aside raising his eyebrow. "Then why's she on my team tonight mate? And not yours?"

I didn't respond. Of course, this situation was much more a result of Charlie's doing than his, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of going after his bait.

He smirked at me, as if he knew what I was thinking, then jogged after the others. The Ares brother pushed me as we were forced to start walking back to their territory, but I didn't take my eyes off James. Not even when he disappeared among the shadows between the trees.

"I knew we should have listened to her about the grenades." Sabrina muttered darkly as one of the Hermes campers nudged her shoulder with his bow. "Why didn't you take her advice?"

Her comment was directed at Charlie who looked a little as if he were in shock. We hadn't been taken captive in capture the flag in years.

Usually, we had Harper with us helping avoid making stupid mistakes like the one she'd just exploited, but we'd hadn't tonight, and it had felt like we were going in blind.

I don't think anyone had really realized what missing her would look like. It looked as if she'd known it too, it's what she'd been counting on.

It wasn't long after we'd been captured that the hunting horn blared signaling the end of the game. We were released just in time to see Chase's team gathered around Harper. She was on James's shoulders, our flag draped around her like a cloak, and everyone around them were cheering.

I expected her to look uncomfortable with all the attention but she wasn't. She was laughing.

"How many weeks of dessert do you think I'd lose if I went over there and decked him?" Charlie snarled, looking at James as if he were a particularly disgusting insect but I shook my head.

"You'd never make it through the crowd. Let's just get out of here."

There was a sick, heavy sensation of disappointment running through me, but surprisingly, it didn't really seem all that connected with losing.

We managed to run into Aaron and Jasmine on the way to the campfire, and without even thinking about it really, I found myself taking her hand in mind.

She seemed a little surprised by this, but didn't push me away either and while we sat next to each other during the campfire, we didn't end up talking all that much.

Usually, I was pretty involved with the campfire. Two summers ago, someone had handed me a guitar and I'd ended up leading the songs with Candice before I'd even known what had happened, but I was out of it tonight.

While Harper usually sat with Allison and Tamera, James had somehow managed to worm his way into the Ares sister's place while she was still in the mortal world.

I kept missing cords and playing the wrong verses. I eventually ended up giving up on the lyrics all together when I'd realized, somehow, between all of her team members coming up to talk to the pair, James's arm had made it around her shoulders.

I was well aware that I was getting glances for each mistake, people wondering what was up with me, but I avoided eye contact with everyone, even Charlie, who despite having been glaring daggers and James the entire time, gave me the occasional quizzical look, clearly wondering what was wrong.

I wasn't exactly sure I had an answer for that, but I found myself going back to the day Harper had asked me what I thought about James, and wishing I'd been much more honest. About how I didn't like the guy. Even if I wasn't exactly sure why.

By all means, there was nothing overtly wrong with the guy. Except for the fact I was certain he liked to piss Charlie and I off. Or the fact he'd seemed to swoop in while we were away from camp, and judging by how familiar he'd seemed with her over the past few days, used the opportunity to spend a decent amount of time with her.

'Can you really blame him?' a small, honest voice in the back of my mind said. 'If you were in his position, wouldn't you do the same thing?'

He obviously liked Harper, and yeah, if the girl I liked had an overbearing brother, I probably would have made the most of the time he wasn't around. Still, I didn't like it. And I didn't like that I hadn't been around to try and put it to a stop.

"Charlie seemed pretty upset about his sister tonight." Jasmine said as we stopped outside the Aphrodite cabin.

I'd walked her back after the campers had dispersed for the night, but neither of us had really spoken that much.

"Yeah." I agreed not really knowing what else to say.

"You seemed pretty upset about it too." She said hesitantly, and while I knew better to respond to this, her expression told me she caught the gist of what I was thinking.

About how I was frustrated with Charlie about what he'd done. How I wanted to talk to Harper, but couldn't because the twins were still mad at each other, and it would be like picking sides. But because I was Charlie's best friend, it was like my side had been chosen for me. People expected me to stay out of it, to stick with Charlie, but I missed Harper. Even before all of this had happened, I'd been gone for a week and I'd missed her then too. Talking to her during my shifts in the infirmary, the way she smiled at me when I'd improved during her tutoring sessions, laughing with and at her brother. But then feeling guilty about being angry with him, because I knew if anyone was as miserable about things being bad between the twins as I was, it was Charlie himself.

"You seem really unhappy lately Ash." She said quietly, and her eyes were concerned.

"I'm fine." I said automatically but she shook her head.

"No, you're not and you should stop lying about it." She paused and gave me a sad look. "How is anyone supposed to make you feel better if they don't know anything is wrong?"

I didn't know how to answer that.

I didn't like to talk about my problems with people. I didn't generally like to think about them myself even. It made them seem much more real in a way. That much harder to keep up the impression it seemed most of the camp had gotten from me since I'd gotten here. Ashton Wells, Son of Apollo and Charlie's best friend. The guy nothing ever bothered.

But that was what I was known for wasn't it? Who I was, even at home. The contrasting figure to the Charlie's stubbornness, and sometimes the peacekeeper between the twins when they argued.

"For what it's worth. I think you should talk to Harper."

"Bambi doesn't want to talk to Charlie." I said automatically, starting to shake my head but she continued.

"I didn't say Charlie." she pointed out. "I said you." she frowned. "Not everything you do has to be about Charlie you know."

"He's my best friend." I protested automatically. We did everything together.

"Did he ask what you thought about kicking his sister from the team?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well no, but she's his sister."

"And she's your friend." She said and I noticed at this point she wasn't looking at me, but somewhere off into the night. "Just because they're related doesn't mean he gets rights over how she uses her time, and just because he's your friend doesn't mean he gets to tell you how to use yours. He's your friend, he should understand."

I felt my brow furrow.

If I was honest, I hadn't really considered this. Would Charlie have been mad if I'd talked to Harper when she wasn't speaking with him? Spend time with her?

Probably not. In fact, he might take the opportunity to try and force them to fix things, he'd done it in the past. So did it feel so much like choosing sides?

Maybe it wasn't Charlie that was keeping me from talking to Harper after all.

"Well, think about it." she said softly.

She reached up to rest a hand on my face as she kissed my cheek, but despite the familiarity and the way a few of her sisters giggled as they passed us to walk into their cabin, it didn't feel like a romantic gesture. If anything, it was comforting.

"Night Ash."

"Night Jas."

She turned and walked into her cabin, and I watched her go thinking about what she'd said.

Maybe Jasmine had a point. Maybe talking to Harper wasn't such a bad idea, if anything, it might help.

Without really thinking about it, I turned, but instead of heading back to my cabin, I made my way towards the twins'.

To my surprise, and encouragement, I spotted Harper standing outside it, but the feeling deflated when I saw who she was talking to.

James.

He'd obviously walked her back to her cabin from the campfire like I had with Jasmine, and a flash of anger went through me that I couldn't explain.

Seriously, what was guy trying to do? Convincing her to go against her family tonight.

Anger flashed through me, and before I knew what I was doing, I found myself walking towards them.

It took several strides, but eventually, I could hear what they were saying.

"So it's come to my attention that the fourth of July approaches." He said and I felt the blood in my veins went glacial. "I've come to realize that that's sort of a big occasion in the states."

"Oh have you now?" she asked with a grin which he returned.

"Yeah, something about a war and rebellious colonies and England not wanting to deal with the head ache anymore."

She laughed.

"Is that how you would put it?"

"Something like that." He said mildly and she rolled her eyes behind her glasses.

I was close enough that I could hear their conversation, but far enough that the light from her cabin that illuminated them hadn't reached me. They hadn't seen me, and while a part of me was screaming at myself to go over there, interrupt what I knew was about to happen, I felt rooted to the spot. I stood there, unable to move as my heart rate increased and my breathing went shallow.

"I've also noticed, that you Americans tend to celebrate that day with fireworks, and it's customary to invite someone to watch said fireworks with you if you fancy them."

"That's accurate." She said crossing her arms over her chest, looking up at James, apparently amused. "If you _fancy_ them that is."

A cool breeze brushed over me and while it was summer and the nights were warm at camp, I could hardly feel the heat.

Her tone was playful as she mocked the term and I hated it. I wasn't sure why. If because it was James, or that she seemed to be enjoying any guy's company so much. I couldn't think of a single guy here who deserved to get that tone from her. Maybe anywhere for that matter.

"Well, I fancy you." James said with a shrug and she smiled. "Would you like to accompany me?"

It felt as if something was closing in on me as I saw that smile, and it felt as if my stomach was falling through the floor as she responded.

"Yeah. I would."

"Brilliant." James said beaming at her. "It's a date then?"

"Yeah." She said as if she was trying not to sound excited about it, but failing. "It's a date."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you around then."

"See you James."

She gave him one last grin, before heading into her cabin.

James watched her go for a moment, his eyes lingering on the door she disappeared through for moment, and his expression was strange. Almost as if his excitement was tinged with a hint of regret. Eventually, however he turned to walk back to his own cabin, leaving me standing there, alone, wondering how such a beautiful summer night, could be one of the worst things that had ever happened to me.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello everyone! Sorry this chapter took longer to post than I expected it. I was going to upload a few days ago, but something just felt off and I realized the reason I was dragging out posting was because I just wasn't happy with how this chapter turned out. I kept going over it thinking I would post and deciding not to at the last second because I just couldn't bring myself to upload something that felt like it didn't fit very well. So I decided to rewrite it to something I thought was just all around better and worth uploading even if I had to rewrite like 60-70% of the chapter. I really am trying to get this story out as fast as possible, but as I said at the very start when I started posting, I uploaded this story much faster than I normally would have when it comes to how much of the story I'd written out and how much of the plot I've developed. So it takes longer to edit and rewrite things to make sure it won't conflict with directions I might go with in the future. With that said, I'll continue to try and post as quickly as possible and thank you to everyone who's reading and giving me feed back and support. Seriously, seeing positive reviews and the follows/favs really help keeping me at the keyboard and pushing through hours of writing and editing and rewriting, so thank you.

Apologies for the really long AN. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter!

~secrehalfblood

Hpov

"What I don't get." Tamera said, digging through the shield selection in the armory, taking a moment to appraise each item before moving to the next. "Is how Harper managed to lose her mind in the short time that I was gone."

I glanced up from my book on the French Revolution long enough to shoot her an annoyed look before returning to the pages.

She, Allison, and I were going through the armor the camp had laying around while hers was repaired. It had taken some serious damage during her excursion out in the mortal world and wouldn't be returned from cabin 9 until after this week's game of capture the flag.

"Seriously Harper." She said kicking the hull of the chariot I'd been sitting in to get my attention and I jumped. "Are you crazy? What are you thinking going out with that James guy?"

"Oh give her a break." Allison said rolling her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with the guy. Just because _someone's_ making progress in her relationship…"

She let her sentence fade meaningfully but Tamera wasn't even phased.

"I'm sorry." She said turning to glare at Allison over her shoulder. "Which one of us has a boyfriend in the MLB?"

"That's official now?" I asked, interested despite Tamera's attitude towards me all morning.

She'd met Rodney, the guy she'd been crushing on for the past several months, last fall while weight lifting at her local gym. He'd said he was in the minor leagues, looking to go pro and having seen her doing her routine, had wanted to ask her for pointers. She'd liked him a lot and had been helping him optimize his workouts, but he'd been too focused on his training to commit to anything serious. It looked as if the help she'd given him in training had paid off, for both of them.

"Yeah." She said simply and while I could tell she was trying to sound nonchalant, she couldn't completely hide her smile. "He was the youngest player drafted this season." She continued and there was a hint of pride in her tone. "When the season ends he's going to introduce me to the team."

"That's awesome!" Allison said excited and Tamera's smile grew ever so slightly.

"Speaking of men." Allison mused looking towards me. "Aren't you supposed to be with Ashton right now?"

Ashton was in the infirmary filling one of the medic time slots at the moment, and while we'd made it a habit of taking the time to help him study for his exam retake, it wasn't happening today.

"He's running a bit late." I said ,suddenly not wanting to meet their gaze, and hating the expression I knew they were sharing. "Swapped medic shifts with one of his siblings or something, he said he'd find me if he had time today."

'Well, technically, _he_ didn't say anything.' I thought a little bitterly.

One of his sisters had found me before lunch today and told me, and while I kept telling myself it hadn't been weird, I couldn't help but feel a little unsettled by this. Why hadn't Ashton told me himself?

"Doesn't he need tutoring to pass a final or something?" Tamera asked raising her eyebrows. "You'd think he'd make it more of a priority."

"Couldn't one of his other siblings cover?" Allison agreed looking concerned.

I shrugged taking refuge in my book and while I couldn't see either of them, I knew they were having some sort of silent conversation. I had a feeling that I didn't want to know what they might be _not_ saying.

Eventually, Tamera picked her armor and we made our way to the arena so she could test it out.

I noticed that as we walked, several people turned to look at us, well, me really, many of them whispering to each other and staring with obvious interest.

"Anyone else feel like a goldfish in a bowl?" Tamera asked scanning our surroundings, clearly wondering why we were getting so much attention.

"It's been like that all weekend." Allison said with a sigh. "Ever since people heard James asked Harper out."

"I don't see why they care really." I muttered looking determinedly ahead of me, fixing my eyes on the arena.

"Topics for gossip must be pretty scarce." Tamera snorted, sending the nearest group of on lookers an irritated look.

She smirked as a panicked look crossed their faces and they scurried away.

"Yeah, maybe." Allison said crossing her arms over her chest and shrugging.

I was grateful neither of them asked what Charlie thought of all this and, if I was being honest, I wasn't really sure what he thought myself. I hadn't seen much of him this weekend, and while he hadn't said anything during meals together, he didn't talk much either.

I wasn't exactly sure what to do about it. While I didn't regret my decision to join James's team on Friday, I'd expected Charlie to freak out at me.

He hadn't.

Instead, he'd just sort of been eerily silent about the whole thing. Ashton too. And I felt that silence like a physical force between us when he'd turned up at the Arena, and we walked back to the cabin to study.

"Well?" he asked as I went through the list of questions I'd written out for him, checking the answers. "How'd I do?"

His tone was measured, and while he was looking at me, everything about it seemed off. Ashton had always been sort of person who laughed easily, but not once today had he even cracked so much as a smile. It was weird.

"Good." I said eventually as I handed him back the paper. "You've got most of the principals down at this point. Just need to work a bit on actually writing out the formulas."

He scanned over the answers and I couldn't help but notice how quiet the room felt, as if something had sucked the life out of the air around us when usually, being around Ashton was easy, fun even.

A surge of disappointment went through me and settled heavily in my stomach when I realized that, yet again, he wasn't going to respond to what I'd said.

I hated this feeling. No matter how much we made fun of each other, and if Charlie and I were arguing or not, there had never been a time where I felt Ashton and I couldn't talk to each other. At least, not until now.

"So what's next?" he said eventually after several minutes of awkward silence that felt as if they had dragged on forever. He still wasn't looking at me, rather at the corrected paper in front of him which he had to have finished reading by now. "Flash cards?"

"I think you should write out the formulas repeatedly to help you memorize them."

"Alright." He said and still, without so much as a glance in my direction, picked up a notebook and a pen. "Which should we start with?"

"Is something wrong, Ash?"

I felt myself go red slightly as I said it, and my feeling of embarrassment only heightened when, finally, he looked up.

"What?"

"It's just," I started, hating how anxious I sounded. "It seems like you're upset with me."

Anxiety knotted in my chest, accompanied with anger and frustration not just with the situation, but myself. I hadn't meant to ask him. It had just sort of come out. And despite the fact I didn't think I'd done anything wrong, I felt guilty.

"Why would I be upset with you?" he asked and I was surprised to see that the incredulity in his tone seemed genuine.

"I dunno." I said with a shrug, hating how uncertain I felt. "You just seem sort of off for the last couple of days. Since capture the flag." I hesitated. "I guess I thought that you were mad at me." I paused again, waiting for him to respond but when he didn't, continued with. "You know, since I joined the other team?"

I had been telling myself for days to leave it alone. That I would let either my brother or Ashton bring it up if they had an issue, and I didn't need to apologize, but I couldn't help it. Charlie, I could stay mad at. He was my brother and no matter how much we argued, he had to love me no matter what. But Ash… Ashton was a different story. As strange as it sounded, he didn't have stick around me if it didn't seem worth the trouble and despite how close he and Charlie were, Ashton was still my friend. I didn't want him to be caught in between whatever stupid argument Charlie and I were going through, but I didn't want to lose my friend either.

"I just feel like we haven't really talked a lot in the past few days." I pressed as he looked at me, feeling my cheeks blush even further, hating how stupid it sounded. "And everything has just been really weird. I thought, if you were upset about last Friday, well, maybe that was the reason why."

The look he gave me was hard to describe, it was almost as if he thought I said was insane.

"Harper," He said shaking his head and he sounded tired. "You can play on whatever team you like."

"Then why does it seem like every time you're around lately, you seem upset?"

He was looking at me now, actually looking at me, for what felt like the first time in days. His eyes, which were usually warm and carefree, looked conflicted, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite bring himself to.

"Harper-" He started sounding torn, but just as he began to speak, the door opened.

"Harper, are you in here?" Sabrina called glancing around the room, then looking a little surprise as she spotted Ashton. "Oh…"

She looked a little embarrassed, and only then did I realize that Ashton and I were alone together in one of the cabin rooms, which technically, was against camp rules.

"Sorry." She said glancing around the room, apparently uncomfortable until she saw the study materials. She looked a little relieved. "I didn't realize you guys were working."

"It's fine." I assured her, noticing Ashton was no longer looking at me. "Did you ned something?"

"Yeah." She said brightening instantly. "I wanted to know if I could borrow that book on Astronomy you were reading last week. Wait," she frowned. "It is in English, right?"

"Yes." I said amused. "And yeah you can. It's on the nightstand."

I gestured towards the pile of books stacked on the table next to my bunk.

"Awesome, thanks."

I went back to the list of formulas I thought Ashton was mostly to run into on the retake as she crossed the room.

"Do you think you'll need it back anytime soon?" she asked curiously sorting through the pile. "Because I was hoping to use it for a science project next year- whoops."

There was a heavy 'clunk' as something hit the floor followed by a rattling sound of plastic bouncing against the wooden boards.

"Sorry about that."

I glanced up to see her reaching down for an item she must have knocked off the nightstand.

"Hey, isn't this the stuff that cute guy James got you?" She asked and I froze. "I hope it wasn't expensive..."

I didn't need to see the label on the bottles to know what she was holding. The second the scent hit me I started sneezing.

"Harper?" Ashton asked concerned as Sabrina's eyes went wide.

"Oh gods." she muttered sounding panicked as she scrambled to recap the perfume. "I forgot! Harper… I'm sorry..."

"It's fine." I said between coughs, covering my nose. Sabrina darted over to the window to push it open, but it was far too late.

"We need to get her outside." Ashton said quickly, putting an arm around me as he ushered me towards the door, but just as we were about to walk through, our way was blocked.

"Did someone spray something with lavender in it?"

It was Terry, and he looked worried.

"No genius." Sabrina snapped. "I force fed Harper a flower."

Terry looked at her in surprise as my eyes burned, and a look of shock crossed her face.

"Terry, get out of the way." Ashton said all but shoving Terry back into the hall as I struggled to breathe.

"T-Terry I'm so sorry." Sabrina stuttered in horror after us as we made our way towards the cabin door. "I didn't mean- I mean, I did mean it. It was a stupid question to ask. But I didn't mean to say that out loud…"

Her stammered apologizes to our brother faded as we made it outside and I slid down the cabin wall, still coughing.

"Deep breaths Bambi," Ashton said calmly as he knelt next to me, clearly going into to medic mode. "Arms over your head, open up your airways."

I sat up and did as I was instructed, resting my hands on my head and trying not to hyperventilate in the clean air when I heard it.

"Harper?"

I glanced up, my eyes still watering, to see Charlie pushing people out of his was as he ran to the cabin, Annie hot on his heels.

"I'm fine." I said trying to wave them off, but they were already in front of me.

"Harper, what happened?" Annie asked in panic, clearly distressed at my labored breathing, not that I blamed her. She'd _had_ just seen me collapse a few days ago, but thankfully Ashton explained.

"She's fine." He said automatically glancing at Charlie, before looking back at me. "She just had a bad reaction to some perfume. It set off her allergy."

"Allergy?" Charlie asked confused at first, but his eyes narrowed and the confusion quickly turned to fury. "What idiot is bringing lavender stuff in the cabin? Everyone knows not to."

"It was an accident." I said as Annie, looking relieved, handed me a small pack of tissues that was in her pocket. "Sabrina knocked over my perfume."

"Your perfume?" Annie asked frowning while Charlie looked at me like I had three heads.

"Why on earth do you have lavender scented perfume?" Charlie demanded.

"It was a gift." I said honestly, my breathing had slowed now and despite no longer feeling like I was about to hyperventilate, I leaned forward resting my elbows on my knees, suddenly exhausted.

"Keep sitting up." Ashton advised and though it hurt, I did as he said.

I could still smell a hint of the perfume, and it made my stomach turn, but my lungs were feeling better.

"A gift? From who?" Annie asked sounding perplexed and my response just blurted from me, even though I hadn't wanted to say it.

"James." I said knowing I shouldn't. Knowing it would only make Charlie more upset, but I couldn't stop the words from coming out. "He gave it to me on our birthday."

"James?" Charlie asked furiously. "What is that prick trying to kill you?"

"Charlie." Annie chided in a modulated tone as she put a comforting had on my back. "I'm sure he had no idea."

"I'm ok." I said shaking my head taking another slow, deep breath.

"You sure?" Ashton asked and I nodded.

"Yeah." I said trying to banish the urge to sneeze again. "I think that stuff was just super concentrated. Really, I'm ok."

It was then that I realized that this was the first-time Charlie had spoken to me since he'd imposed his silent treatment, well, apart from random one word replies.

He seemed to realize it too, because while his expression was still anxious, something about it had shut down.

"I can't believe you're actually going out with this guy." He muttered and I felt resentment solidify within me like ice.

"Charlie…" Annie muttered, warning clear in her tone, but he pushed forward.

"Don't you think this is a sign?" he asked angrily. "That maybe the fact we don't know anything about him, and he _clearly_ doesn't know anything about you-"

"Can you give it a rest for two seconds Charlie? Gods!" Ashton snapped in frustration, and I froze. "Just give her a minute, will you?"

This was so out of character for Ashton, Charlie didn't speak for a moment, apparently too stunned to do anything but stare at him.

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked and Ashton shook his head.

"You're blowing this way out of proportion dude. Can't you see you're stressing her out?" He continued and I wasn't sure if it was Ashton my friend, or Ashton the medic talking, but either way, he was clear he really was angry. "Harper can date who she wants. Just leave her alone."

He turned back to me, and, as if he hadn't dropped a bomb all over the conversation, asked.

"How are you feeling?"

The question was calm, but I could see the emotion in his eyes. He was still upset.

"B-Better." I answered, not quite sure I could believe what I'd just seen.

Ashton NEVER yelled, especially not a Charlie.

"Alright. Take it easy for the rest of the day, ok?" He said and I nodded in response, simultaneously wondering what on Olympus was going on.

Had I somehow been transported to another dimension or something? One in which Ashton actually stood up against Charlie's insane, overbearing behavior?

"Alright." He said quietly and after one last glance, stood. "I'm going to check the infirmary to see if we've got an allergy medication." He then turned to Charlie. "Seriously. Leave her alone."

'What on Olympus just happened?' I thought as Ashton walked away, Charlie, seeming too stunned to respond.

I looked at Annie, who seemed just as confused as I was.

No one spoke for a moment, as we watched him walk away, then Charlie, as if the thought had only just occurred to him said.

"She's _my_ sister, not yours."

His tone was resentful, and I could tell he didn't like being told what to do in regards to me, but it didn't matter. Ashton was already gone.

Charlie reached out to help me to my feet and despite everything that had happened over the last few days, things suddenly felt normal between us. As if what Ashton had just done had short circuited Charlie's brain, and the entire system had done a hard reset.

Annie, clearly startled by the change in behavior, looked at him with concern, but I thought I knew what the problem was.

If there was one thing Charlie was certain of, possibly even more than his own twin, was that Ashton would always be on his side. Even if he'd deserved it, I'd ditched him on Friday and now, for the first time ever, it looked as if he'd done something to upset his best friend.

He looked dazed, as if he wasn't really sure what was going on, and despite the fact I was still somewhat angry at what had happened last week, I recognized that right now, Charlie needed his sister.

"C'mon." I said taking his hand and dragging him back into the cabin with Annie following behind us. "I've still got some of the gummy bears Dad sent us from his trip to Germany left over. I'll let you have some if you go get them from my trunk for me."

"You don't have to share them with me Harps." He said sounding a little exasperated at the sympathy, but smiling slightly at the same.

Our Dad traveled a lot for his work, especially when we were at camp, and he almost always sent us something while he was away. The gummy bears had quickly become our favorite candy when we were kids, and the squabbles over who got to eat how much had become so frequent, he'd started sending us our own packs.

Charlie had eaten his bag immediately and in one setting like he normally did, but I always tried to save the last bit of my bag for snack emergencies.

This seemed like it qualified.

"No really." I said shaking my head. "You'd be doing me a favor. I don't think I should go back into the room yet."

"Alright." He said quietly, but then his smile grew. "But I'm eating all the red ones before I come back out."

I glowered at him.

"I will _literally_ kill you."

He laughed but made his way towards the girls' bunk room.

"You know he doesn't buy it, right?" Annie asked quietly as he disappeared through the door. "That you need him to get the gummy bears for you."

I shrugged.

"I know. But he likes feeling like he's protecting me. Even if it's for something stupid."

"Yeah." She said with a sigh. "I swear every time he has to leave camp when you're here he constantly pelts Ashton and I with text and Iris messages asking if you're ok. I thought after their last mission he was getting better when he didn't get into contact that much but when he got back and you turned up in the infirmary…"

Her voice drifted off, but she didn't need finish the sentence. If Charlie had been relaxing his crazy brother tendencies at all recently, the incident last week must have ramped it up immensely.

"I don't understand why he's like this." She said shaking her head. "It's not like he freaks out about any of your other siblings. Do you know why?"

"No." I said honestly. "Sometimes I think he just likes making me mad."

"It's not that." She said shaking her head and I looked at her. "Trust me. I know he's good at hiding it. But when Charlie freaks out about stuff with you, it's not some minor thing. It stems from genuine fear."

Something about her tone resonated with me, as if it had stirred something, a memory maybe, buried deep within the recesses of the back of my mind, but when I tried to focus on it, the feeling slipped away.

"What makes you say that?" I asked raising an eyebrow and she frowned.

"I can feel it." she explained, but before she could say anything further, Charlie walked back into the room.

"Should have known you'd have eaten most of the red ones already." He said sounding a little miffed, dumping a hand full of candy out of the bag before tossing it to me.

I noticed it was far lighter than it had been before, but then again, being a basketball player, Charlie's 'handful' was quite a bit bigger than most other people's.

"Want some?" he asked offering the candy to Annie.

She smiled, accepting the gesture and I couldn't help but think he looked a little proud of himself when he saw her expression.

A part of me wondered if she knew that there wasn't anyone, not even Ashton or I, he would have given the offer to except for her.

I had a feeling she did.

'Gods,' I thought with a little exasperation as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

If those two didn't end up married I was going to have some serious words with Aphrodite.

Still, as ridiculously coupley as my brother and his girlfriend were, I couldn't help but think of what Annie had said.

I knew children of Aphrodite had a sense of other people's emotions, but I'd never thought about how sensitive it might be outside the realm of infatuation and love. But if Annie was to be believed it sounded like that whatever was causing Charlie to be paranoid about me, stemmed from something that genuinely scared him.

'I guess that makes sense,' I thought vaguely as I watched the pair.

My brother wasn't crazy. As strange as his behavior around me might be sometimes, he generally didn't do things without a reason. The only problem was, I had no idea what that reason might be, and if the past was any sort of indication, I didn't think I ever would.

Apov

'What the hell just happened?' I thought frantically as I walked through the camp feeling a little lost. 'What the hell was I thinking?'

I hardly noticed the people that waved to me as I passed them, or my siblings that asked me if I was alright. I hadn't found any medications in the infirmary that I thought would benefit Harper now that her allergy attack had died down, not that'd I'd really expected to. To be honest, I'd just wanted to have a reason to get away from both of the twins. Now I was wandering around the camp, not really sure what to do.

I'd been avoiding Harper ever since I'd overheard James ask her out, and to be honest, I wasn't exactly sure why. I mean, Harper could date whoever she wanted to. I'd told Charlie that and I believed it, but now that she was going out with James, I didn't think I could act normally around her. Not with that constantly in the back of my mind.

'It shouldn't matter.' I thought annoyed with myself. 'She's Charlie's sister. It shouldn't matter to you who she dates as long as she's not being mistreated.'

So why did I feel like this? So… so upset.

'Get it together Ash,' I thought shaking my head.

I mean. It was natural to be worried about her right? The guy was shady. I mean. He hadn't really done anything wrong, and a lot of people seemed to think he was a decent guy. But there was a lot about him that didn't seem to add up.

'Who cares what everyone else thought about him anyways?' I thought acidly. He certainly wasn't good enough for Harper. No one was.

Maybe that's why I'd been so thrown earlier. Knowing she'd for some reason agreed to go out with someone like him. I didn't understand it. Maybe the frustration had caused me to slip up and say things to Charlie I would normally just keep to myself.

'She really is too good for him though.' I thought absentmindedly, not even sure where I was going but continuing to walk.

Harper was smart and pretty and kind and, once you got to know her, funny. Charlie might have been my best friend, but Harper was always the one to make feel better when I was stressed or upset about something. She was fun in a weird dorky sort of way, and you could always count on her knowing the answer to practically any question you could ask. Even the weirdest things that no one should know. Like what latitude the city of Prague was at. Or the year the zipper was invented. But I guess James was going to be getting those answers now.

'This is stupid.' I thought, surprised at how the idea of this made me feel sick. 'Just because she's dating someone doesn't mean you can't hang out with her. You're completely overreacting.'

Harper didn't feel the need to avoid me when I started dating Jasmine. At least I didn't think she did. But the idea of her having inside jokes with James like we did, or that her rants about her brother and all the insane things he did when it came to her, might be directed to him rather than me, it just felt wrong. But that was what a boyfriend was for right? To be there for that sort of thing.

It was only when I reached the basketball court, that I realized where my feet had taken me, and that I wasn't alone.

And of course, the person on the court was the last person I wanted to see.

"Afternoon sunshine." James said resting his basketball against his hip as he smiled at me. "Looking for a game of pick up? Or is your counterpart on his way?"

"What?" I asked confused realizing for the first time, how much I hate his stupid accent...

"Charlie, Ashton." He explained sounding a little amused before turning back to the basket and taking a shot.

He missed, but only barely.

When he jogged off to retrieved the ball, I knew I should have left. Taken the moment he was distracted just to walk away and avoid an argument, but not for the first time today, something came over me. Just as they had when I'd yelled at Charlier earlier, the words just seemed to fall out, and I was powerless to stop them.

"You know you almost killed Harper." I said angrily, and the expression he gave me seemed to be a mixture of amusement and suspicion.

"Come again?" he asked, his lip quirking up a little, as if he thought I was joking.

"The perfume you gave her jackass." I snapped, venom in each word. "She's allergic to lavender. Someone knocked over the bottle earlier and she had an attack."

"So that's why she never used it." he muttered looking off into the distance as if realizing something. He glanced back at me. "She ok?"

"She's fine." I admitted a little grudgingly.

A part of me had wanted to lie, and tell him her reaction had been worse than it was. Just to see him feel the panic I had when she'd started wheezing, but I couldn't seem to make myself do it. Truthfully, Harper's allergy wasn't all that serious, and as much as I wanted to make him feel bad, he'd probably figure out the truth sooner rather than later.

"So then what's with the hostility?" he asked, an eyebrow darting up and I frowned.

"Are you serious?" I asked darkly. Didn't he care? "Something could have happened."

"Well, it sounds like it didn't mate."

"That's not the point." I spat and the look he gave me was patronizing.

"No, I don't believe it is."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Do you not care about this?" I asked irritated by his expression and the mildness to his tone. I was surprised to hear, not for the first time today, my voice was rising. "You could have hurt her. Doesn't that bother you?"

"_Of course_ it bothers me." He said his tone suggesting his tolerance with the conversation was waning. The calm in his voice was cracking, he almost sounded annoyed. "But I could have hardly been expected to know about the allergy, and you said she was fine. I really doubt you'd be going after one of your friends if they'd been the one to give her the perfume. So," he gave me an expectant look. "What's this really about Ashton? Because as far as I can tell, you just want a reason to be angry with me."

I hadn't expected him to call me out like this, and it unsettled me. I found my answer was far more honest than I had intended.

"Why are you bothering Harper?" I asked feeling my eyes narrow. "What do you want from her?"

He let out a sigh and looked up at the sky above us, as if he could see the gods and they would grant him the patience he would need to deal with the situation.

"Look Wells." He said his eyes falling on me. "If you or Harper's brother _actually_ have a concern then by all means, come speak with me, but I'm not going stand here and be an outlet for your jealousy."

Jealousy?

"What are you talking about?" I asked darkly and he let out a hollow laugh.

"Gods, you aren't serious are you?" he asked in disbelief, as if he expected me to get in on some sort of joke, but when I didn't, he looked a little uncertain. "Are you?" he asked incredulously. "Hades Wells, have you been lying to everyone for so long, you've started to believe the rubbish you spout as well?"

I didn't like the way he was looking at me, or the cold feeling of anxiety that was creeping in on me at his words.

"I'm not a liar." I said angrily.

What the hell was he talking about? He didn't know anything about me. He barely knew Harper. He didn't get to have any opinions on us.

"You're right." He said and while his tone was meditative, his words were sharp. "That would be too easy wouldn't it? You don't just lie to people, you use them."

"What?"

Anger shot through me as he stood there considering me, but it was accompanied by fear.

I often felt as if Harper could look right through me when we were talking, but I'd never felt someone's gaze cut this deep.

I almost didn't want to hear what he had to say next.

"You know, I told Harper she was a terrible liar the other day." he said still with that maddeningly patient tone, as if I were a problem he was somewhat interested in solving if he ever got the time. "Her brother would be to if he ever felt the need to. But not you…" He paused as once again, he seemed to consider me. "I'll admit, when I first realized who you were friends with, it didn't make a lot of sense to me." he continued and to my surprise, the look he gave me was appraising, as if he'd found something something he'd come to respect about me. "People think you don't have much of an opinion about anything, don't they? It's why everyone likes you so much. Especially Charlie." He laughed at little at this, and continued to look at me, but this time, he seemed a bit more eager to figure out what made me tick. "You just seem so _harmless_. You don't offend anyone. In that way I guess it's not that surprising you're the only one he lets around his sister. But I guess you figured that out from the start, didn't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about dude." I said darkly and while the words were true, it didn't stop a knot of ice forming within my chest as something like dread seeped through me.

"You know, you're a lot smarter than people think Wells. And far more subversive. And it's a lot harder than most people think." he continued. "Putting up a front like that, convincing everyone around you that you don't want anything. That it doesn't bother you to put everyone else's happiness in front of your own. The perfect brother, the perfect son," he hesitated, as if for dramatic effect before adding. "The perfect _friend_." he grinned. "Other people might not see it, but I did. The moment I met you."

He laughed again, but this time, there was a little bitterness to it.

"You're nuts." I said shaking my head as I started to walk away.

"Oh really?" he asked sounding incredulous as I felt.

"Yeah."

Gods, I knew starting conversation had been about idea but jeez…

I shook my head and started making my way back to the cabins not caring about the situation between the twins. I had to find Harper. Convince her not to go out with a guy who clearly had issues.

"Then answer me this Wells." He said and against my better judgement, I turned, ready to tell him off.

"Why are you really friends with Charlie?"

I stared at him for a second, not quite understanding the question.

"What?"

"You heard me." He said with a shrug, raising his hands from his sides, as if inviting me to answer the question.

"Why am I friends with Charlie?" I repeated somewhat in disbelief. What kind of question was that? And what sort of response did he expect?

"Why is anyone friends with someone they meet?" I countered not quite sure what point he was trying to make. "We met playing basketball, we like the same stuff."

"But why bother to play side kick all these years to someone you know is less powerful than you? Less talented than you?" he asked and it was almost as if he was looking for something specific. "What reason would you have to run around with his friends, go to a school you can't keep up with and spent endless amounts of time with his sister, that causes him and by proxy you, what seems like an endless amount of drama because he has some sort of guardian complex over her."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Unless it was the sister you really wanted to be around the whole time."

"What?" I asked far too quickly. "No."

But even as I said it, I felt my heart rate increase and my lungs seemed to shrink making it harder to breathe.

"Really?" he asked and there was a bite to the laugh that accompanied the question. "Because from what I heard, Charlie wasn't the Davis twin you were interested in when you all first met. Kind of convenient, isn't it?" he smirked. "Having an iron clad reason to constantly be around Harper, and if anyone questioned it, well it's only natural you'd be friends with her. Since you spend so much time around Charlie. Same thing with keeping other lads away from her huh? You're just concerned for her. Like any good friend of her brother's would be."

His tone was heavy with sarcasm, and though I wanted to argue with him, I wasn't even sure where I should start.

"No." I protested, desperate to form an argument to his words that just wasn't coming. "No, you're-"

"Seriously mate, just stop." He said and he sounded annoyed. "It's getting pathetic. Everyone knows you're half in love with her."

The ice had taken over now, and I felt as if I falling. Falling into something dark and deep watching as the light from the sky above get farther and farther away.

"But I'm not going to sacrifice my chance with a girl like Harper just because you're bitter you blew yours."

He picked up the ball I hadn't realize that was resting at his feet.

My mind was a whirl of chaos and thoughts, and I didn't realize he was walking towards me until he thrust the ball into my stomach and I caught it automatically.

"Maybe if you'd said something before now, and spent less time worrying about what everyone else thought. You wouldn't feel the need to attack me now."

He started to walk away, leaving me with the ball and my thoughts. Everything James was saying, he'd gotten it wrong, but he sounded so convinced when he'd said it, I couldn't help but wonder if part of him was right…

"No." I said shaking my head, and turning to face him. "No, I'm not like that. I'm not that selfish."

Charlie really was my best friend, and Harper, no matter how confusing it might be to be around her sometimes, was my friend too when it came down to it. And I couldn't stand by as she wasted her time on someone like James. Someone so cynical. Someone who clearly knew how to manipulate people.

Someone who might do it to her.

"I'm not like you."

He stopped for a second, then looked over his shoulder at me as if considering what I'd said.

The look he gave me was hard to read. It didn't look angry, but it wasn't happy either. Something about it was harsh, but also somewhat resigned. As if he knew there was some truth what to I'd said, but had accepted it long ago.

"Maybe not." He said quietly. "But maybe you should be. Perhaps if you were a little more selfish, the person she'd be going out with this week, would be you."

And with that, he put his hands in his pockets and walked away, not bothering to look back as I watched him go.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello all! Hope you like the chapter! Thanks!

~secrethalfblood

Hpov

"Blink." Annie said pulling back the mascara wand and looking at my eyes critically.

I did as I was told and after a few seconds, she smiled.

"It's perfect!" she declared with excitment. "You look amazing! James is going to freak out."

"I hope not." I said too nervous to say something smart like I normally would have.

Why was I so nervous? It shouldn't be a big deal. It was just a date.

My first one.

"You. Look. Fabulous." She said clapping her hands together, still beaming at her work. "I'm almost a little disappointed it's going to be dark out. You look far too pretty for people not to see the full effect."

She pouted a little at the thought and I grinned.

"It'll be fine." I said amused and she let out a little squeal as she tackled me into a hug.

Annie, who was in red tank top, denim shorts, and had her hair set with a 50's style American flag bandana, had come over to the Athena cabin armed with what looked like an entire make up aisle's worth of products and a week's worth of clothes. Initially, I'd been confused as to why she was traveling with her wardrobe, but she'd pointed out that we were the same size, and to my very great surprise, I actually fit in her clothes.

She'd let me borrow a light blue sundress for the night and had tried to get me to wear a bow, but I'd managed to talk her out of it.

"I'm so excited for you." she said pulling me closer as I returned the embrace. "You have to tell me all the details tomorrow ok? I mean everything."

She let go of me and gave me a look that told me she was serious about this.

"And you should let me do your hair and make up more often." she chided. "You could literally be on a magazine cover."

"It's probably the make-up." I said scratching the back of my head awkwardly and she swatted at my hand.

"Stop, you'll mess up your hair and it's not the make-up." She said stubbornly. "You're really pretty Harper. You just spend so much time with your nose in a book you never realized it."

She gave me a stern nod, then smiled again.

"Now go look at yourself, tell me how much you love it."

She finally let me stand from the chair she'd dragged into the bunk room and I glanced at the mirror hanging by the door.

"Well?" she demanded, practically bouncing with anticipation as I took in my appearance.

"The dress is kind of short…" I muttered tugging at the hem that fell a few inches above my knee and she let out an exasperated noise.

"No it's not Harper." She said rolling her eyes. "Get closer to the mirror. Tell me what you think."

She was right. I did look very pretty my hair styled in the sort of waves only a child of Aphrodite or an extremely expensive salon could manage. I expected her to go crazy with the make-up but she hadn't. Most of it was natural looking, there was one thing she had gone all out for however.

"I don't think my eyes have ever been this bright before." I said with a slight grin looking at the liner that flared out from my lashes.

"Which is a shame," she said popping into the reflection. "Because they're to die for. Promise me you won't wear your glasses tonight."

"But-"

"Promise." She pressed and I sighed.

"Alright, I promise."

"Good." She said brightly. "Because I'm sick of you hiding your pretty face behind your lenses."

"I do not hide." I muttered, but made a show of taking them off the neck line of the dress, and resting them on the pile of books on my nightstand.

"Excellent." She said then glanced at her watch. "But we should get moving. Anything you want me to touch up before we head out?"

"No, it's perfect Annie." I said glancing at the mirror again, wondering if the girl in it really was me. I mean, I didn't look that different… Maybe older. Far prettier for sure. "Thank you. It was really nice of you to do all this for me."

"No problem." She said, her grin going somewhat mischievous. "I've been dying to give you a make-over for years."

"Well, they say patience is a virtue."

"Yes, that being said, we probably shouldn't keep the boys waiting any longer."

"No, probably not." I agreed but I didn't move.

I kept looking in the mirror hoping that the longer I looked at this weird, beautified version of myself, the more confident I'd feel about the evening.

"Nervous?" Annie guessed, but I didn't have the guts to respond.

"Harper, it'll be fine." She said putting an arm around me and pulling me closer in an encouraging motion. "You're going to go have a fun evening with a cute guy, who is probably not going to know what to do with himself because his date is so gorgeous."

"Yeah, I don't think James is going to have that problem."

"And I don't think you realize how awesome you are." She said and it sounded genuine. "Just be yourself Harper. Everything will be fine."

"Right." I said taking a deep breath and smiling at her. "Thanks Annie."

It was moments like these I was glad that of all the girls in camp my brother could have ended up with, it was her. People tended to think that the Aphrodite kids were all self-absorbed Barbie and Ken dolls, and occasionally, they could be. But most of the time, if you could look past the intimidating good looks, they were actually pretty nice and they gave pretty good advice.

"Now let's go girlie." She said releasing me and bouncing back to her excitement. "We didn't get all dressed up for nothing."

We made our way towards the beach where she'd join Charlie and a group of their friends, and I was supposed meet up with James.

As we walked, I felt my stomach tying itself into knots. Despite the fact that I knew Annie was right, and I shouldn't be worried, I couldn't help it. I just had this feeling like something was going to happen.

Maybe it was just excitement or nerves. I mean, I'd never been on real date before. Maybe this was normal?

I was almost relieved when we ran into Allison and Tamera on the way there.

"You look so pretty!" Allison gushed when she spotted me but Tamera frowned.

"Really?" she asked looking a little disgruntled. "A dress?"

"What's wrong with it?" Allison asked her eyes going wide as she looked back at Tamera in surprise.

"This guy is not worth this much effort." She said gesturing towards me and Allison rolled her eyes.

"She means you look great." She said in exasperation and I laughed.

"Thanks Tam." I said and Tamera shrugged, but didn't argue so I figured Allison's interpretation was close enough.

As we made it to the beach, I glanced around in what I hoped was a casual manner trying to spot James, but was surprised when I didn't see him.

I guess it wasn't that big of a deal. It wasn't that late. The sun was only just starting to set, but I'd thought Annie and I were pushing it a little when we'd left the Athena cabin. Most of the camp was here already.

So where was James?

The thought was driven out of my mind when I heard Charlie's voice.

"No. No. Absolutely not."

I turned to see he'd broken from a group of his friends not ten feet to our left and was looking at me as if horrified with what he saw.

"Harper, go put on a jacket or leggings or some-"

"Stop." Annie muttered and while the hand she put on his arm was gentle, there was a tone of finality in her voice that even Charlie couldn't have missed.

He let out a sigh, then muttered.

"You look… nice," under his breath. As if it cost him something to admit.

"Thanks." I said a little surprised. Then, even more unexpected, especially after everything that had happened between us lately, he pulled me into a hug.

Things had returned to uneasy peace between Charlie and I since Ashton had freaked out on him the other day. I wasn't sure if they'd talked about it, but they'd played together just fine during the pickup game earlier, so I guess they were acting like nothing had happened.

"Gods, and I thought keeping guys away from you was hard before." He let go of me and took in my appearance with a pained expression. "It's going to turn into a full-time job, isn't it?"

I grinned.

"You might have to start compensating Ash for his time."

"I take payment in many forms." Said a familiar voice and I jumped.

I turned to see that Ashton had broken from their group of friends as well and was not three feet behind me.

"But burritos are preferred if you're taking suggestions."

While the comment had been a joke, obviously directed at Charlie, Ashton wasn't looking at him.

"Let's go find Aaron." Annie said quickly, linking her arm with Charlie's and practically dragging him off back to the group he and Ashton had just left.

He glanced at the couple for a moment, seeming to debate something to himself before looking back to me.

"B- Harper." He started, quickly correcting himself. "You look…"

"Different?" I asked a little uncertainly, slightly alarmed he'd tripped over the nickname.

"Beautiful."

He'd didn't say it like a compliment, but more like a fact. As if no one could convince him otherwise, but there was something in his tone that made me think there was more he wanted to say. He didn't seem eager to share it though, so not knowing what else to do, I changed the subject.

"Where is Jasmine?" I asked automatically.

I'd figured they'd be here together like they were every summer, even if they weren't 'officially' dating.

"Probably with Chase somewhere." He said with a shrug. "He asked her to go with him a couple of nights ago."

"Oh." I said immediately feeling awful to have brought it up. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't be sorry." He said shaking his head. "It's not your fault. If anything, it's mine."

I frowned at the statement, not exactly sure what to make of it but before I could work out anything to say, he spoke.

"Where's James?"

"I'm not sure." I said suddenly remembering the fact that I was supposed to be here with him.

I frowned and stood on my toes to look over the crowd again. It didn't take long for me to be distract however. The sun was starting to set now, casting hints of red and orange into Ashton's hair, and when he turned to glance back in the direction of the main part of camp, once again I noticed how even when it was fading, Ashton always seemed to look a thousand times better than pretty much anyone in the sunlight.

"Want me to wait with you until he gets here?" he asked glancing back at me, and my heart skipped a beat when I realized I was staring.

"Uh, no." I said automatically, but wishing I hadn't. "No," I repeated shaking my head. "Go hang out with your friends. I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"Alright." He said and while his tone was neutral, something about his gaze and the way it lingered on me made me wonder if like me, he'd wished he'd said something else. "I guess I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Good luck Bambi."

"Thanks Ash."

I watched him go, walking on the sand to join Charlie and their friends.

They'd made it further down the beach by now, and I watched them for a moment before glancing over my shoulder a little nervously, wondering where James was.

It was getting darker now. The fireworks would be starting soon. People had stopped filtering in from the direction of the cabins, and I wondered what could be taking him so long.

I noticed Allison and Tamera to my right, about the same distance from me as Charlie and Ashton in the opposite direction. I thought about joining them briefly, but deciding against it. If he was already late, I didn't want James to have any trouble finding me when he got here.

Another few minutes passed as the sky grew darker. I saw people were settling into their seats, couples nestling together in the sand and friends laughing, campers glancing expectantly in the sky waiting for the fireworks to kick off.

I felt a little sick.

Where on Olympus was James?

I couldn't have been waiting too long, but with the nerves gathering in my stomach it had felt like hours.

Automatically, I glanced at Charlie, wondering if maybe I should just join a group at this point, but his back was towards me.

Ashton had noticed however.

He was talking to Aaron, the brother Annie had said she'd wanted to find earlier, and without breaking a beat, I saw it.

A gesture that was familiar to me, but now felt almost alien because I was always the one to do it.

2-4-2-4.

'_It will be okay.'_

Startled into a smile, I signed back the response, realizing only as it did it, it was for the first time.

1-4

'_I know.'_

My nerves calmed. Ashton was right. James was probably just running late. I was sure he'd be here soon.

It would all work out, in the end, like I always told him, and he was telling me now. Everything would be ok.

….

It wasn't ok.

I didn't know how long I waited before Allison and Tamera took pity on me and sat with me on the sand, but the fireworks had already started and James hadn't shown up.

I barely even noticed the display, or the shouts and the cheers of the campers around me. I wasn't even sure if I'd realized when it ended.

All I knew was that I wanted this night to be over and it was a relief when Allison, in a voice that most people would adopt around a hospital bed, told me that everyone was leaving.

I didn't join in their conversation on the walk back to the cabins, all too aware of the whispers that were following me, and the stares.

Eventually, they seemed to run out of things to talk about and we walked in silence, where, for what had to be the third straight hour now, I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Maybe something happened." Allison said half-heartedly when we made back to the Athena cabin. She still was looking at me with an expression that felt like it was a mix of sympathy, and anxiety. As if she felt sorry for me, but also thought I was a bomb that was about to explode. "It was obvious he did like you. Maybe we should ask his siblings if-"

"Screw that." Tamera, who was probably the actual detonation risk, snarled viciously. "I say we don't talk at all and just pound him into the ground. Gods I knew he was a sleaze ball but this is low even for him. When I get my hands on him-"

"We don't know what happened." Allison protested, clearly hoping some magical excuse was going to drop out of the sky for why James had stood me up tonight, but it sounded feeble and I figured even she probably didn't believe it herself.

"Guys, I appreciate you trying to cheer me up." I said trying to sound as upbeat as possible. "But I really just want to go to bed."

"Alright." Allison said quietly and while Tamera looked as if she wanted to argue, Allison shook her head and she backed off.

"Well," she said a little awkwardly and patting me on the shoulder. "If you ever _do_ want someone to pound James into the floor..."

"You'll be the first to know." I said with a slight laugh, only to be horrified when I felt a burning in my eyes and a lump in my throat.

'No.' I thought stubbornly as anger and frustration roiled within me. 'No, you are _not_ going to cry. Not over this.'

Blinking rapidly, I turned away from my friends and said.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, ok?"

"Yeah." Allison agreed softly.

I said goodnight and they might have responded, but I couldn't be sure. I'd already started making my way up the stairs to the porch and into the cabin.

None of my siblings spoke to me as I walked towards the books in the far corner of the common area. I wasn't sure if it was because they hadn't heard about what had happened yet or just weren't sure what to say, but judging by the fact they weren't meeting my eyes as I passed, I figured it was the former rather than the later. Either way I was grateful. I didn't much feel like talking.

I was just about to start looking through the titles, when the front door burst open, and we all turned to see Charlie storming into cabin looking as if someone had burned our house down.

"I'm going to kill him." He ranted. "Harper, is it true? Because if that moron really stood you up I'm going to-"

But I didn't hear the rest of Charlie's threats, because the second he saw me, Ashton swiftly crossed the room and pulled me into a hug.

"Charlie," he said his voice quiet, but resolute. "Shut up."

I was glad he said it, and I was glad that he was tall enough that I could hide my face against his chest and not making it obvious I was doing so.

I let him pull me closer, everything about him feeling warm and familiar on a night where the whole world had just seemed to suck. I felt the burning return to my eyes and shut them tightly, trying to ignore everything but Ashton's embrace, hoping that if I concentrated enough on it, I wouldn't have to think about anything else.

Vaguely, I was aware of Terry telling everyone to get into their bunk rooms and give me some space.

"You too Charlie."

I figured Charlie tried to protest, but he must not have made much of an argument, because when I finally pulled away from Ashton, we were alone.

"Sorry." I muttered not wanting to meet his eyes as I tried to wipe mine without him noticing. "This all probably seems so stupid to you. You and everyone else. You all warned me."

"Harper." He said and he sounded incredulous. "Don't apologize."

He reached down and brushed a tear from my cheek, lifting my chin to look at him.

"Screw that guy. He almost killed you and he sucks at basketball."

I was startled into a laugh, surprised he'd managed to find a way to insult James without reminding me that I'd just been humiliated in front of the entire camp.

"Yeah, he really isn't that good." I agreed and Ashton grinned.

"Not that you ever actually watch Charlie and I play."

"Of course not."

"You would think a demigod could do a decent layup though. You know, just as a general rule."

"Can I get an exception to that rule?" I asked grinning and he laughed.

"Slow down there Davis." He said sounding amused. "You already get a handicap when we play horse."

Ever since I'd gotten to know Ashton, well enough that he could occasionally talk me into shooting hoops with him at least, we'd had a ground rule of wherever I shot from, he had to take three steps back.

"You have almost a foot on me and freakish Apollo aim." I said indignantly.

"So?"

"Could you just be cool, for once?" I asked and he raised an eyebrow.

"You're asking me to be cool?"

"Uh huh."

"The girl who's read the dictionary, _twice,_ because she ran out of books to read at home, is asking _me_, first string in the biggest sport at our school, to be cool."

"Uh, yeah." I said pretending to think about it. "That's correct."

"Fine." He relented in mock sorrow. "You alone can be a demigod that is bad at basketball without bringing shame to your family."

"Well thank the Gods for that." I muttered sarcastically and he smiled.

He pulled me into a second hug, and I returned it, enjoying the familiar feeling of warmth and light that always accompanied his presence.

"Are you gonna be ok Bambi?" he asked quietly, and something felt different about the way he said the nickname this time. Maybe it was because the question was so sincere. He hadn't said to tease me or annoy me as he so often did. It was simply a sign of affection, and realizing this, it didn't bother me.

"Yeah." I said softly. "Screw James."

This took him by surprise and he laughed. I smiled, feeling the shift in his shoulders as he did.

"You know Charlie wasn't serious about killing him right?" Ashton asked letting me go and I looked up at him. "I mean, he's mad, but he's not that mad."

"No I know." I said with a nod, then pointed out. "Tamera might be though. She already hated him."

"You know that's probably true."

There was a moment where neither of us seemed to know what to say, but it didn't feel awkward.

"I should probably get going." He said quietly, though his tone suggested he felt otherwise. "Candice is probably wondering where I am."

"Alright." I agreed, but feeling crestfallen all the same.

"I'm sorry that James turned out to be such a piece of crap tonight."

"It's ok." I said shaking my head and looking anywhere but at him. "I didn't even like him that much anyways."

It wasn't really a lie. I still hadn't really made up my mind on how much I really liked James, but it did sort of suck that the one person I'd considered that I might be interested in a long time, turned out to be such a disappointment.

"It's not ok." He said darkly, but when I looked up at him, his expression was sympathetic, not angry. "But he was never good enough for you anyways. At least you figured it out before you spent anymore time on him."

"Yeah."

He grinned.

"I can rough him up a little bit next time we're on the court together if you want. You know, an elbow to the ribs, maybe a personal foul or two."

"You don't foul people Ashton." I said shaking my head but unable to hide my smile at the offer. "You're too nice."

"I'm not all that nice." He said a little awkwardly, scratching the back of his head and looking at me with a shrug. "Besides." He added thoughtfully. "James isn't a person. More like… a pile of garbage that learned how to talk."

"He's British," I pointed out. "So technically I think he qualifies as rubbish."

"Good point." he said with a hint of approval in his tone. "You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah." I said with a nod, and when he looked uncertain, I continued realizing I was speaking to myself as much as I was him. "Really, I'm fine. He's is just a guy."

"A rubbish guy."

"Yes," I agreed with a slight grin. "A rubbish guy."

"Alright," he said quietly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya, Ash."

He gave me a final smile, his expression not just fond, but something else as well. Something more.

"Night Bambi."

He crossed the room and opened the cabin door, letting in a cool breeze from the night beyond it. He didn't look back as he stepped out, and I watched him leave, surprised at how disappointed I felt by it.

Somehow, he'd taken a terrible night, and made all of it seem ok.

I wasn't even sure how he'd done it.

I hesitated for just a moment longer, before turning and making my way towards the girls bunkroom, spurred by the thought that I would in fact see him tomorrow. He'd all but promised to do so. I was looking forward to it.

Despite him warning me about James, he hadn't said I told you so. He'd been kind. He hadn't made it about his own anger with James like Charlie and Tamera had, or made excuses to try and down play the issue like Allison had. He'd just made me feel better. And for a moment there, I'd almost forgotten what had happened.

My sisters seemed to want to avoid my gaze as I walked into the room, but I found that, despite everything that had happened and James turning out to be the world's crappiest demigod, I wasn't really upset about it anymore.

What was the point?

I started to change and get ready for bed, grateful to get out of Annie's clothes and make-up that just seemed ridiculous now. Tamera had been right. James had not been worth all this trouble.

'But someone else might have been...' a small, almost hopeful voice said in the back of my mind, one I'd thought I'd gotten rid of years ago.

Ashton had said I'd looked beautiful...

Somehow, I had a feeling that meant more to me than if James had shown up tonight, and had been the one to say it. And for some reason, I wasn't shutting that voice down like I had in the past.

Smiling to myself a little, though I knew I probably shouldn't be, I went grab a book off the stack on my nightstand, only to halt, hand outstretched as I frowned.

"Did anyone move my glasses?" I asked uncertainly, scanning around the room, my heartrate increasing as I realized they were nowhere in sight.

"What?" Kerri, the youngest, and the only red head in the Athena cabin asked, her light eyes curious as she turned to me.

"My glasses." I said horror creeping through me, as I frantically sorted through the books and under the furnature incase I missed them. "They're gone, did anyone take them?"

"I don't think so." Sabrina said with a frown, sliding out from under her blankets, clearly meaning to help me look.

"Maybe Charlie took them?" Zoey, the only sister that was older than me, suggested.

"Maybe." I said knowing Charlie never would have taken my gift from our mother without asking me, even if he was mad at me. He never had before, and he knew how angry it would make me.

In desperation, I started searching my bed, snatching back the blankets only to feel my heart stop as I tossed my pillow aside. Under it was a piece of paper folded in half, the page hastily ripped out of one of the notebooks I'd been using while tutoring Ashton, judging by the string of chemical formulas scrawled across it.

"What the hell?" I asked quietly, but the hand that reached for it was unsteady.

Fear closed in on me, sending a shock through my body as if it had been tossed into freezing waters. Somehow, before I even opened the note, I knew what it would say.

_I don't expect you to understand._

_But I can't have you follow me._

_For what it's worth, I really am sorry._

There was no name attached to the script, but James didn't have to sign it for me to know it was him.

"What on Olympus…?" Zoey asked curiously reading the note over my shoulder. "Follow who, where?" I heard the surprise in her tone the paper crumpled in my fist. "Harper? Are you ok?"

Rage was flooding through me.

"That thieving pile of-" but I cut myself off as the true meaning of his words hit me, turning my body to ice.

"Oh gods."

"Harper, where are you going?"

But I ignored Kerri's confusion as I tore out of the room, to the shelves of books and other forms of literature we'd collected over generations of Athena children passing through the cabin.

"No, no, no, no." I muttered to myself as I rifled through covers and pages, panic rising with in me the longer I didn't find what I already knew must be gone. "No this can't be happening."

"Harper?"

The voice belonged to Terry. He and Charlie were poking their heads out of the boy's bunk room, watching me almost throw things off the shelf.

"Are you ok?"

They joined my sisters in stepping into the common area, watching in obvious concern as I sank to the floor running my fingers through my hair

The scrolls. They were gone. All of them.

"He's trying to find it." I said quietly.

Gods how could I be so stupid? Why had I put them all together? Why hadn't I made them harder to find when he'd seemed so interested? In hindsight it was so obvious…

"Find what?" Terry asked, clearly confused, but Charlie's tone was a lot more suspicious.

"Who?"

"James." I said looking up at them desperately. "He took the scrolls. He's trying to find the library."

"The library?" Kerri asked sounding perplexed.

"The Cordrian Library?" Terry asked and I nodded, hiding my face in my hands.

How could I do something this insanely dumb? Why had I told him about the scrolls?

"But it's just a myth, isn't it?" Sabrina asked and though I couldn't see her, I could tell she was frowning, but everything was coming together in my mind. Pieces sliding together and solidifying vague uncertainties into genuine fears.

"I don't think it is." I muttered, feeling far too ashamed to look up, but forcing myself to anyways. "In fact, I think he's been there before."

"How?" Charlie asked indignantly.

"Even if the myth was true, the library has been closed off for centuries at the very least," Terry pointed out. "You of all people should know. The doors, they'd be unstable without someone controlling them."

"Unstable, but not impossible to find." I said shaking my head, hardly able to believe myself the only thing that made sense, and standing. "But if he found a way in, even accidentally-"

"The scrolls could help him find the key to the doors." Charlie finished for me, his tone grim.

"But that shouldn't matter." Mason's voice said as he stepped into the common room, clearly having heard the conversation. "It's not like they'd do him that much. The only one who's read all the scrolls is Harper, everyone knows that. Even if he was trying to use them, how many could he actually understand? Two or three? Maybe four?"

"Harper's glasses are missing." Zoey said quietly and a hush fell over the cabin as each of us reflected on what that meant.

"Do they lenses work for anyone who looks through them?" Terry asked quietly.

"Yes." Charlie said when I couldn't bring myself to answer. "Ash and I have both tried them. It wasn't fun for my eyes adjusting to the enchantment, but they did work."

"And if he finds the keys to the doors…" Sabrina said, her sentence fading as the reality of the situation hit us all at once.

"He could access any part of the mythological world." Zoey finished for him. "Send anyone anywhere in the world."

"But why?" Mason asked frowning, his dark eyes obviously confused. "Why would he steal Harper's glasses and the scrolls? If he was looking for the library wouldn't he want our help?"

"It depends on why he's looking for it." Charlie said and while our siblings turned towards him, clearly expecting for him to explain, when his eyes met mine, I knew exactly what he was thinking. "I don't think the Gods were wrong about it being a demigod that broke in to Olympus, do you?"

"No." I said shaking my head feeling embarrassment and shame burning through me. "Gods he was asking me about it. Charlie, I'm such an idiot…"

"This isn't your fault." Sabrina protested. "How could you possibly have known what he was up to?"

"He must have taken off tonight, when everyone was distracted at the beach." Charlie said shaking his head. "Waltzed right into the cabin and took it all."

"We need to find him." Terry said a look of panic crossing his face. "If he's got Harper's glasses, if he can read the scrolls, we might not have a lot of time before he finds the key. And then he could let anyone into any one of the Big Three's domains, even Olympus..."

"My guess is the highest bidder." Charlie muttered acidly.

"But how are we supposed to find him?" Sabrina asked anxiously. "We don't have the scrolls. We don't even know where to look."

"No, we don't." Charlie said and while he was frowning, he didn't look upset. He looked as if he was thinking. "But Harper might."

"What do you mean?" Terry asked quickly, turning to face Charlie.

His expression was guarded, but it looked as if he didn't want to admit what he was about to say next.

"Harper remembers everything she reads, almost perfectly. It's a little freakish actually. And she's read them all more than once."

"So she might know where he's going?" Mason asked his eyes going wide in realization.

"We might be even able to beat him there." Charlie said with a nod. "Especially if he's working alone."

The statement hung for a moment, heavy as we realized what this meant. Did James have some sort of divine assistance in his mission to locate the library and control it's ability to move people between the domains? If so, how powerful was his backer? And what did they want?

Terry was the first to break from the silence. He turned to me.

"We need to get you to the Big House," he said his tone tense. "Chiron's going to want to talk to you."


	15. Chapter 15

Hello all, I know it's been a while since I posted I am sorry about that. I ended up having to rewrite the entire chapter, and a lot of stuff happened in my personal life that just made it impossible. But I saw the review asking me post so I side lined that stuff just to get the chapter out. Thanks for the positive support, I know it's been a while but I appreciate it. Hopefully the new chapter will be worth the wait and I'll try to post the next chapter within the next week or so.

~secrethalfblood

Hpov

I didn't get any sleep.

From the moment I was rushed to the Big House by my siblings, the night was a blur of circular questions and accusations until just thinking about the situation caused a dull ache in the forefront of my brain.

Eventually, Chiron had called another emergency meeting, which was how I'd found myself, bleary eyed, sitting with the other mission regular campers, listening to them go back and forth with the same conversations I'd been hearing for hours, and hurling every insult they could possibly come up with against James and against me.

Now, I'm not saying I'd never done something dumb before, because, well, who hasn't. But I was pretty sure I'd never actually been accused of stupidity before in my life. Now, in the span of a single night, I'd lost of how many people had saddled me with the incurable case of it.

I watched without reacting as another chair was sailed across the room, and connected witt the wall. An Ares brother was yelling about… something. I'd stopped paying attention to the arguments a while ago. I just wanted some time to think…

Chiron had been called away to answer a message from Olympus about forty minutes ago, and I'd hoped I might be able to take a breather. To grab a second alone just to clear my head, but it seemed as if his presence had been holding the hostility at bay. Tensions were rising the longer he was gone, the shouts getting louder and angrier, and I was afraid that if I drew any more attention to myself, it would all be centered back on me again.

I felt Ashton's hand squeeze mine and while I didn't look at him, I returned the pressure.

I wasn't sure when it had happened, or who's hand had reached for who's, but at some point, when I'd been telling the campers the same information I'd felt I'd been repeating all night, I was aware his fingers had interlaced with mine. Suddenly, it the situation had seemed a lot more bearable. Like maybe I'd survive this after all.

"So?" Charlie asked, straightening up as Chiron walked back into the room. He'd been leaning against the wall next to me and the cluster of our siblings, glaring daggers at anyone who dared look our way all night. But now that Chiron had come back, his attention had been diverted. "What's going on? What did they say?"

I didn't know if Charlie had noticed Ashton's hand in mine, and I didn't really care. Right now, it was the only thing keeping the feeling of shame and humiliation from consuming me entirely. It was pressing in from all sides, threatening to take me over all the way down to the core.

"The Big Three have been alerted to the threat posed to their territories and have begun to fortify their defenses." Chiron said sounding exhausted as the room went silent, waiting to hear the news. "They're hoping to catch James if he surfaces within any of their domains, but it doesn't seem likely." He hesitated for just the slightest of seconds before adding. "They're requesting we send Harper to Olympus, they wish to interrogate her about the situation."

"What?" Charlie exploded as a pang of icy fear solidified in the pit of my stomach. Next to me, Ashton stiffened. "Absolutely not!"

"They just want to ask her a few questions." He said with an attempt at keeping his tone reasonable, but even he didn't seem to buy it. "About the library and James. About what she might know."

"Then they can do it here." Charlie said furiously while our siblings nodded in agreement. "Harper already told us everything. They've got more than enough information to work with. If we send her to Olympus, what's the guarantee we'll get her back?"

"Charlie-"

"What does our mother say about this?" he continued sharply and Chiron sighed, somehow, he sounded even more tired than he had before.

"Your mother has no power to stop the King of the Gods. Not when Olympus is threatened." Chiron said, his tone clearly trying to sound reasonable, but Charlie was not having it.

"That's bullshit." he snarled. "What's to stop him from keeping her there and punishing her if they don't find James?"

"Be very careful what you say Charlie." Chiron muttered, and while the words were soft, there was a bite of warning in them. "You don't want to be caught trying to interfere with the Gods and their justice."

"The Gods never want justice." Charlie retorted with venom. "They want revenge. And they'll take it out on whoever they can get their hands on."

"Maybe she deserves to be punished." A voice said from across the room, and we all turned in shock to see Carter, the head of the Hermes cabin and a brother who was very close to James was glaring nastily at in my direction. He was looking at me as if I were a slug, and not a particularly attractive one. "She was stupid enough to sit on this information for years. She knew there was a way to move between the domains and didn't bother to tell anyone."

"I thought it was a myth." I said trying to sound patient, but rubbing my temples all the same. How many times had I been over this? All night I'd been saying the same things over and over again, even past the point of sunrise. "We all thought-"

"Demigods are supposed to be a myth." Carter pointed out acidly. He was tall, but thin as a rail with sharp features, and the sneer he was giving me twisted them in to one of the ugliest expressions I'd ever seen. "So are the gods. But we all know how _real_ they are."

"Shut up toothpick." Allison snapped, glowering at Carter, who looked surprised she said anything. "Don't act like you're on the side of the Gods here. You just want to blame Harper so you can pretend your brother isn't a traitor."

"James had been pumping the camp for information ever since he got here." Terry agreed. "We think he already knew about the library's existence, he just didn't know how it worked, and no one ever thought twice about it because they didn't know what he was talking about. People had already noticed him disappearing for hours at a time, turning up with odd injuries, and not just after missions. It just so happened Harper was the only one who had the answers he was looking for."

"And he targeted her the moment he realized that." Charlie growled.

This was true of course. In hindsight, it seemed so obvious with the way James always wanted to know what I was reading about and always asking me questions about the history of the mythological world. And like an idiot, I had answers for him. I'd always been willing to answer anyone's questions if I knew the information, and to find out everything I could if I didn't. James had played me like violin letting me do all the heavy lifting for whatever he was planning. And like a sucker I'd completely fallen for it.

I shook my head and put it in my hands, unable to stand it anymore.

I should have known. No matter how angry the other campers were with me, or what they might say, it was nothing I hadn't said to myself. They might have been angry with me, or thought I was an idiot, but I was certain it was nothing compared to how much I hated myself.

"I'm sorry, but where is your proof?" Carter asked angrily, turning to Chiron. "It's not like the Athena campers don't have a reason to be mad at James right now." He paused and I assumed it was to glower at me again, but I didn't look up. "Don't you think it's a little weird that only one of them knows anything about this supposed doorway between the kingdoms of the Gods? And it's the one who has the most reason to hate James? Maybe he caught wind of what they were up to and bailed before they could frame him for whatever she's been up to all along."

At this, I looked up, indignant.

"Harper hasn't been up to anything." Terry said annoyed. "She just likes to read. It's not her fault she just happened to read something James was after."

"Yeah?" Carter asked in an annoyingly sarcastic tone. "Well from what I can tell, the only thing James is guilty of is walking out on a bad date. Personally," he sneered again. "I don't blame him."

"Do you wanna die?" Charlie asked stepping aggressively towards Carter, but to my very great surprise, Ashton snatched a ping pong paddle from the table we were all gathered around, and whipped it at Carter's head.

It connected with a solid 'thunk' and he covered his mouth, looking shocked at the red that covered his fingers as he inspected them.

"Say one more thing about Harper, I dare you." Ashton spat, apparently unaware of the wide-eyed expressions he was getting from around the room. "Because the next time, you'll swallow your teeth."

Shock rang through me at his expression, and it was so strong, I nearly forgot the situation I was. That wasn't like him at all.

"Ashton. What. The hell." I muttered glancing at him, but Allison laughed and Tamera said.

"Nice shot." A hint of approval in her tone.

"Enough." Chiron said, commanding the room's attention and while the others turned to face him, Ashton was still giving Carter an evil look. "There is a significant amount of evidence that James was in fact, trying to retrieve information about the library. The Hecate cabin has come forward and admitted to the fact that James had paid them to place an enchantment on a gift for Harper that would compel those under its effects to speak the truth."

"Yeah, and it nearly killed her." Charlie grumbled, but the statement was largely ignored.

"It influenced a number of people who can all testify to its effects." Chiron continued, and my mind was thrown back to the day of my allergy attack. How I'd been unable to stop myself from blurting out information I knew I should have kept to myself, and how Ashton had shouted at Charlie. "But we're not here to establish blame." He continued before anyone could argue. "We're here to establish what we know, and where to go from here. And if anyone has any information I implore you to come forward."

"Well isn't that why they want to talk to Harper?" Chase asked then put his hands up defensively as Charlie, Allison, Tamera, and Ashton all glared at him. "What? I _agree_ with you." he said in exasperation. "I don't think Tiny Davis did anything wrong. Look I liked the guy, but if anyone's seen how manipulative James can be, it's me. But that's what the Gods said they wanted to talk to her for, isn't it?" He shrugged. "Information? Maybe they know more about the situation than we do. Maybe they have different questions to ask."

"Yeah, but we're not gonna send her to Olympus." Charlie said as if he were insane while I mumbled.

"Tiny Davis?"

I wasn't _that_ short...

"Right Chiron?" Charlie pressed, ignoring me and glancing at the centaur, but when he didn't respond, the color seemed to drain from Charlie's face and a sense of unease swelled within me.

"You can't be serious." He said quietly.

"It might be the only choice Charlie." He said softly, and I noticed, he didn't seem to want to meet Charlie's gaze.

"No." he said shaking his head, anger creeping back into his tone. "It's no choice!"

"It's just some questions, it might not even-"

"We can't let them get a hold of her!" He said and there was a hint of desperation to his voice. He sounded scared. "You of all people should know!"

I looked at Charlie, wondering what he meant by this, and I could tell I wasn't the only one. The statement in and of itself wasn't all that concerning, but the way he'd said it, made it sound like both Charlie and Chiron knew something that we didn't.

I glanced at Ashton, to see if he had any idea what Charlie was talking about, but he looked as confused as I was.

I was just about to ask what the hell was going on, when suddenly, there was a flash and the noise like a cannon being fired that rattled the windows in their panes.

I felt myself, and everyone else in the room, pushed back, away from the pillar of light that was now emanating from the center of the room.

Blinking rapidly, I forced myself to look at the figure that had taken form inside of the glow.

The woman was tall and striking, with long black hair, and the air of something powerful, other worldly that seemed to simultaneously magnetize but also terrify everyone in the room. She wore a long toga, as well as a bronze battle helmet, and in her hand, she held a spear. Her grip on the weapon was relaxed, but I had no doubt, in less than a second it would run through an enemy's armor if she so desired, as I was sure it had before and doubtless would do again.

'Mom.' I thought a little warily as her eyes swept imperiously over the room, before landing on me.

Their color was familiar, a stormy gray, and as sharp as a razor, as was the look she was giving me. And while I would recognize her power in any form, I'd never known it to be this cold. This calculated. This… cruel. And while I had to stop myself from flinching away from her, Charlie looked as if he'd been sent a lifesaving reprieve.

"Thank the Gods." He said shaking his head. "This is perfect timing. Chiron's lost his mind. He's actually thinking of sending Harper to Olympus." He said gesturing towards the centaur before glancing back at our mother. "Tell him he's lost his mind."

But Athena didn't return the smile he was giving her, and she didn't address Chiron.

"Speak not now my child, for I have little time and much to explain."

"But-" Charlie started in surprise.

"Be silent Charlie." She said and while her tone was calm, there was a glint of steel in her eyes not even Charlie was oblivious enough not to notice. "I've spoken to the King about the situation with the Hermes boy, and he's agreed to allow my daughter a chance to remedy her mistake." She said dispassionately, her eyes falling on me again, and though before when I'd seen her, they'd so often gazed at me with affection and pride, now, now they just looked disdainful, even cold. I felt ice creeping through me. "Her careless lack of judgement has brought danger to all corners of this world, to mortals and immortals alike."

"But it wasn't her fault." Sabrina said quietly.

"Wasn't it?" Athena said coolly, glaring down me and I felt as if I wanted to shrink to the subatomic level, to a point where she could no longer see me. "Were it not for her, would not only Olympus, but all realms of this earth be vulnerable to a single demigod? Had she had more discretion with the information she'd held, would we be in this situation?" Her voice had risen with anger, and the room started to tremble with her words. "My children are supposed to be the gatekeepers of wisdom in the mortal world, not the instigators of chaos. The situation must be dealt with."

"But we don't even know where James is." Terry said a little desperately.

"Perhaps not." She said her tone as hard as iron. "But you know where he will be." She turned back to Charlie and I. "Lord Zeus and I have agreed. Ten days will be given in order to contain this disaster." She continued as slowly, a rising sense of horror grew within me, but her words continued to fall over me like weight after impossible weight. "By the end of which, the threat to the Gods and their realms must be eliminated, or Harper must face the consequences of her actions."

Panic was closing in on me, dimming my vision as if I were in a tunnel, some place dark and silent, watching as the light at the end of it got further and further away.

"No!" Charlie said shaking his head. He sounded frantic now, more than I'd ever seen him before. His eyes had gone wide and he seemed legitimately terrified. "No. I can find James." He bargained. "I'll find him and bring him to the Gods. Harper can tell me-"

"This was Harper's doing Charlie, not yours." She angrily and the weight of her gaze seemed immeasurable. "She must be the one to make things right. Hers is the lesson to be learned. But why must you act ignorant? You knew this day was coming."

"Mom." He said desperately. "Just let me go. I'll do it. Please."

"Harper Davis has ten days to restore the balance to the realms of the Gods." She said brutally, ignoring Charlie's pleading. "If she is clever, she may not need even that. But should she fail, she must suffer Olympus's wrath."

"But-"

"Ten days." She repeated, looking right at me as she did. "I would use them wisely."

There was another flash of light, another enormous crash, and then she was gone.

There was a full minute of silence in which no one seemed to know what to say.

Charlie was shaking, as if he'd been rocked to his very core and while I expected the gravity of my situation to hit me sometime soon, something within me had seemed to go numb.

"Harper?" Ashton asked quietly, but I shook my head trying to sort through my thoughts.

Maybe it was because I'd gotten no sleep, or because this was too big of a thing to deal with and too many things had happened in just the span of a few hours but, what else could we have expected really? Wasn't this the way things had to be? The way, deep down, I'd known they'd end up all along.

My siblings were whispering to each other, as were the rest of the campers, but Chiron didn't give them much time to come to their own conclusions no matter what they might be.

"Well." He said calmly. "I guess the direction is clear."

"No, it's not." Charlie answered darkly.

He'd gotten over his shock apparently, and it had transformed into anger.

"Charlie…" I started feeling exhausted, but he didn't seem to want to listen.

"I don't care what mom said." He snapped. "Harper, you can write what you remember down and give it to me. My team will go after James and-"

Instantly, our siblings went into an uproar.

"This was a direct order from our mother." Terry said, while Sabrina, who was close to tears, picked up for him.

"Are you trying to lose her favor for all of us?"

"You don't understand…" he said running through his hair, I was startled to see they were trembling. "If Zeus, if he gets his hands on Harper. She's going to die."

"Don't be so dramatic Charlie." I said in exasperation, trying not to roll my eyes. This was so typical of him… He was always freaking about everything.

But his face had gone white again, and the shaking had gotten worse. He didn't look angry like he usually did when he thought I was in danger. This was terror.

"I'm not-"

"Enough Charlie." Chiron said, and while most everyone was looking at him like he was crazy, Chiron wasn't. He looked worried. "You cannot ignore a mandate from the Gods. Harper _must_ be on this quest."

I frowned at the wording because usually directives given from the Gods or the camp weren't normally considered quests. They were missions. The only time the word quest got thrown around was when there was a prophecy involved.

"Yeah, and if you're planning on pissing off the Gods." Chase said unexpectedly from across the room. "I'm out. You can drag Ashton along if you if you want," he said gesturing towards Ashton besides me. "But I'm not eager to go against either Zeus or Athena's will."

"Well she can't go without a team." Charlie said looking a little relieved, as if this settled the matter. "Harper's never been assigned to leave the camp. She can't go alone. She wouldn't stand a chance."

"We'll take her." Allison said as she and Tamera raised their hands in unison.

"You barely have any mission experience lug nut." One of Allison's brothers said smacking her upside the back of her head.

"But I've got plenty." Tamera countered, casually punching the guy in response. He went flying. "And I would _love_ for an excuse to get my hands James." she continued a sadistic smile making it's way to her features. "_Before_ the Gods get a hold of him."

She turned and looked at Chiron.

"I'll lead the mission."

"What? No." Charlie said indignantly, as if this possibility hadn't occurred to him.

"Well then what do you suggest?" Tamera asked snidely. "If _you_ won't go with her, and you don't have a team to go in her stead."

"I'll go." Ashton said out of nowhere, and the entire room went silent.

"What?" Charlie asked, and I was surprised how much fury he could put into a single syllable.

"I'll go with Harper." He continued, and while he looked a little uncomfortable with the amount of incredulous attention he was attracting, he looked certain all the same.

"Ash, you can't be serious." Charlie protested in disbelief.

"Look, you want to go," Ashton explained, clearly trying to sound patient but a hint of exasperation escaping nonetheless. "And Harper has to go. If Chase isn't willing to come, then with Harper added we've got a team."

"No we don't." he said angrily. "Because Harper's not leaving. She's not going anywhere."

"That's enough Charlie." Chiron said then looking at Ashton. "I approve of the temporary team formation. If Charlie refuses the position, you have permission to bring Tamera on board."

"Excellent." Tamera said, cracking her knuckles with a sort of evil pleasure.

"Chiron." Charlie said in disbelief, he sounded betrayed.

"It's decided." Chiron continued, his voice hard, but his eyes seemed to be telling a different story. It looked like regret. "Ashton, Harper, figure out your team then come to my office for a briefing."

He turned and started walking out of the room towards his office, and slowly, the others started to disperse, all discussing everything that had gone down in hushed voice.

"This is a mistake." Charlie called after him. "Chiron, this is a mistake and you know it."

He paused for a moment, and by his guilty expression, I thought he might look back over his shoulder. But he didn't.

"Start preparing your team Ashton." He said quietly. "I want you ready to leave by tomorrow morning."


	16. Chapter 16

Hello all! Sorry this is up a few days later than I expected. I REALLY tried to get this out sooner, but this was a really longer chapter. I originally had intended post it as two separate parts but decided it made more sense to put it all in one longer post which is why it took longer than I originally thought it would. So yeah, sorry. I really did try. ANYWAYS I hope you like the latest chapter and thank you to everyone who's reading/reviewing/favoriting/following.

~secrethalfblood

Apov

In the end, despite his attitude, Harper and I decided it was probably best if Charlie were selected for the third member of our team for this mission. Mostly because Tamera was likely to get carried away and seriously hurt James if we found him, and if we didn't, Charlie might cause some major problems trying to prevent Harper from leaving if he wasn't involved.

But, since we hadn't been able to find him and convince him that Harper leaving camp was unavoidable, Harper and I had gone to the mission briefing alone.

Much to my surprise, Harper had suspected there was possible entry point to the Cordrian Library not too far from camp for years, but had never bothered to check it out because she'd assumed it was a myth. That and she didn't think she'd be able to get out of camp without Charlie or Chiron noticing.

I couldn't help but notice how tired she'd looked when talking to Chiron. I didn't think I'd ever seen her so exhausted. Not even when pulling all nighters reading the latest book of whatever current series she was obsessed with at the time. But despite getting no sleep, and very publicly losing her mother's favor, she'd been completely composed when talking about what needed to be done. Almost scarily so. But Harper had never been one for hysterics. As nice as she could be, it wasn't as if I wasn't aware of the edge steel that lied under all the logic and reason of the children of Athena. It was what made them as dangerous as they were intelligent. The sort of mindset that, despite its brilliance, could be as cold as it was calculating, and could rationalize almost anything as long as an objective was reached.

Despite being aware of this, I'd never seen it so prominent in Harper. I'd never had to. Charlie had made sure of that. But this wasn't something that Charlie could fix for Harper, or bully away. And now she facing what was probably the biggest crisis of her life, I couldn't help but think I'd never seen her look so much like her brother.

"I need to talk to you."

I looked up from the bag I was packing and turned to see Charlie was leaning against the doorframe of my bunkroom. His arms were crossed over his chest, and while his tone had been measured, his eyes were furious.

"Listen, I get if you're upset about Harper-" I started, but he cut me off.

"No." he said control slipping and ice entering his words. I didn't think I'd ever seen him so angry. "No Ash, you really don't. What the hell were you thinking volunteering to lead the mission like that? You're going to get Harper killed."

"Harper is just as much of a demigod as we are." I argued incredulously, wondering how I'd never noticed just how extreme Charlie's paranoia about his sister really was. This couldn't be healthy. It sounded as if it was all he could do not to jump across the room and lunge at me. "She's not some helpless little girl who needs someone protecting her."

"I never said she was."

"Then _what_ is your issue?" I asked annoyed.

Part of me wanted to be angry with Charlie. Couldn't he see I was only trying to do what made the most sense in the situation? I knew he didn't want Harper to leave camp, but it wasn't like we had a choice. And throwing a tantrum about it wouldn't change that. I figured if we couldn't avoid the situation, it would be best if we were both there with her.

"Look," he said with a sigh, and he pushed his hair back from his face. He looked as tired as Harper had earlier this morning, but unlike his sister, the stress of the situation seemed to be getting to him. There was a feverish sort of anxiety in his eyes, the kind you saw in wild animals when they'd been caged. He looked like someone on the verge of cracking. "I know you're trying to help by volunteering to lead the mission, but you don't know everything that's going on Ash."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, frowning slightly, but he didn't seem to hear me. He just kept talking and it seemed as if the person he was talking was himself, not me.

"I should have tried harder to keep that asshole away from her." He said shaking his head. He was pacing now, still muttering himself and getting more worked up with each word. "But I didn't think she liked him all that much…"

"I don't think she thought she did either." I pointed out, but again, it was as if he'd forgotten I was here.

"I didn't think he would be the one to start this disaster. If I'd just-"

"Ok, Charlie, just… stop." I said shaking my head and he looked up at me as if he'd only just remembered I was here. "The situation is bad yeah, but it's not the end of the world." His eyes met mine and I tried to inject a tone of common sense into my words as I continued. "We've been on missions before and you and Harper are the smartest people I know. We'll figure it out. There's no need to panic."

I know he was worried about his sister, but it was three of us versus James. He was acting as if this was the end all be all about his sister, but I'd known Harper for years. I knew what she was capable of. And if Charlie thought someone like James was going to break a girl like her, then Charlie had misjudged his twin.

"Ash, you don't understand," he said and he sounded miserable. The kind of misery a condemned person might feel, when their fate was upon them, and the last vestiges of hope were fading away.

"You keep saying that." I said peevishly, crossing my arms over my chest. "But you never explain what I'm not understanding."

He seemed to debate something to himself and from a brief moment, I thought he might actually have an answer for me. But he let out another sigh and once again shook his head.

"I can't." he said softly and I was surprised to feel a current of anger go through me.

"Then I don't know you want me to do Charlie." I said throwing my hands up in frustration and turning back to my bag to continue packing.

Charlie was my best friend, he had been for years, and I'd always thought of him as something similar to a brother. I'd thought he'd trusted me. But it was clear to me now that the feeling didn't go both ways. Maybe that it never had.

I jerked the zipper on the bag shut with more force than I probably should have, well aware he was watching me, but too angry to care.

He obviously wasn't telling me something, the reason he'd always been so paranoid about his sister. And whatever it was, it was clear that he didn't trust me with the information.

'But he's not the only one who cares about Harper.' I thought bitterly tossing my bag over my shoulder. 'Surely, after all this time, I had a right to know.'

"Harper and I are leaving tomorrow morning." I said stiffly, making to push past him out of the room. I wanted to check the armory on the off chance it might have something that might be useful over the next few days. "You can come on the mission if you want, but if you don't, then Tamera will take your place."

I didn't look at him as I stepped into the hall, figuring the conversation was over and he'd either make peace with the situation or he wouldn't, but was surprised when he spoke.

"It's not a mission."

"What?" I asked, confused into turning around to look at him, feeling my eyes narrow as he explained.

"Everything that's going on, with James and Harper having to leave camp. It's not a mission. It's a quest."

That caught my attention.

"What are you talking about?" I asked with a frown.

Missions weren't exactly common, but they weren't unheard of. But a quest required a the existence of a prophecy, something far less likely to happen than the occasional demigod venture outside of the camp's boundaries. Despite the threat of the situation we were in posed to the gods, no prophecy had been made. At least not to my knowledge. Was he confused?

"When Harper and I first came to our father," Charlie continued, fidgeting slightly as he spoke. "We came with a letter from our mother, explaining who we were. That we were demigods, and our lives were never going to be normal. But it wasn't the only thing that was there."

He walked towards me while simultaneously reaching into his pocket, pulling out a small scroll.

It wasn't nearly as old as some of the texts you could find in the Athena cabin, or the Big House, but by it's yellowing I could tell the paper's best days had been behind it for years.

"Harper was holding this when he found us." He continued, holding out the scroll for me to take.

It was bound with gray silk, as well as the familiar insignia of an owl. I took it gingerly, afraid of tearing the material, but as it unraveled, and I read the words, I nearly dropped it in shock.

**_Together they were born_**

**_Together they will stay_**

**_Until a lack of caution_**

**_Will take one away_**

**_The peril will be dreadful_**

**_But one they can't escape_**

**_For in this child's hands_**

**_Lies Olympus's fate_**

**_Daughter made by wisdom_**

**_The second born of two_**

**_Will unlock the secret_**

**_Only old ones knew_**

**_Danger lies before her_**

**_The moment that they part_**

**_Set in motion by the one_**

**_Who has claimed her heart_**

**_For his actions are the ones_**

**_That put her on this path_**

**_A road made for redemption _**

**_Or Olympus and it's wrath_**

**_Careful those who love her_**

**_Of these words take heed_**

**_Or she might be forever lost_**

**_Because of one boy's greed_**

The words were as awful as they were familiar, because I'd heard them before.

"Harper had this?" I asked quietly, feeling an icy horror take hold of me as Charlie took the scroll from my grasp, and I looked up at him.

"Yeah." He said tonelessly.

"This is why you never liked it when guys were around her." I said quietly, realization flooding through me as my mind played reel after reel of the nightmares I'd been having lately. "Why you didn't like being too far away from her."

"Yeah, and thanks to you, she's off to a fate that might kill her."

"But I didn't-" I started in protest, but the look he gave me had the words dying before they could come out.

It _was_ my fault. I'd agreed to take Harper on the quest. I'd set it into motion. And there was nothing I could do now to prevent it if I tried because that was the nature of prophecies. Once started, they didn't stop. They became a supernatural force, a current that dragged everyone involved until it came to fruition, regardless of how many people it drowned.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked my mind scrambling to try and find a way out of this. "Why didn't Harper?"

I could back out of the mission, fake an injury, pretend to be sick… But what about her friends? They'd already agreed to take her if no one else would. Could I convinced Tamera to back off?

"She doesn't know." He said quietly, which brought me up short.

"She what?" I asked, snapping my gaze on him, hardly able to believe what I'd just heard. "What do you mean she doesn't know?"

"I mean my father and I never told Harper about the prophecy about her."

"Why not?" I asked furiously. "Charlie, if she'd known-"

"Then what Ash?" he asked angrily and there was defensiveness in his tone. "Do you think the situation would be any different if Harper knew? I wasn't even supposed to know! I found the scroll on accident when I was a kid trying to find where he'd hidden our birthday presents."

"And he made you keep it a secret?" I asked incredulously, appalled at the information I'd been confronted with in the past few minutes.

"How are you supposed to tell a six-year-old they might be destined for tragedy?" he snapped. "That whether or not the Gods decided to punish her depended on someone she hadn't even met yet. Or might never meet, as long as-"

"Her brother kept them away from her." I said darkly. This explained everything. The reason Charlie had been so paranoid about boys talking to Harper. Why he went so overboard over the littlest things that happened to her. "Charlie, you should have told her. If she'd known... been aware... she might have been able to do something."

"Like what?" he asked caustically. "Never talk to any boy other than our brothers? Be so afraid of accidentally discovering something she never wanted to read ever again? Do you really think Harper would stand for living like that?"

"No." I said quietly, feeling the anger which had flared so suddenly within me, dull slightly.

If anything, it might have made her more curious to figure out what the prophecy meant. It might have happened sooner, when she was far less equipped to deal with it.

"I thought if I kept her close, if I protected her enough, she wouldn't have to know." He explained and while the defensive note still resonated in his words, there was also a hint of desperate self justification. As if he wanted me to agree with him, and it would make the situation better. "We figured she'd be happier not knowing, not having this giant weight over her head all the time. And if I saw anyone getting close enough to her, close enough to start the chain of events, we could warn her. Let her know what could happen before it got too far."

He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair again, gripping at the roots as if they were the only thing that was grounding him.

This is all my fault." He muttered. "I shouldn't have let James get anywhere near her. I should've said something before it got too late, but I just didn't think that he-"

"He'd be the one to cause all this."

The words came out mechanically, finishing Charlie's sentence in a tone that felt hollow even to my own ears.

Had she really cared about James that much? I mean, I knew she was hurt by what he'd done, but I thought it was more because it was a crappy thing to do to her than because it was done by him...

"I thought I would have known when it happened." He said softly, a hint of disbelief in his tone, as if a part of him still hadn't accepted the situation we were in. "That I would have had time to say something, do something. And now," he let out short laugh, but it was bitter and the words that came out next were choked. "It's too late."

And it was my fault.

"I guess it doesn't matter now." He said with a shrug, but I'd never herd him sound so hopeless. "But you want to know the worst part?"

"What?" I asked quietly, though I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what he had to say next.

"A part of me always thought it might be you."

I felt a shock go through me, and though I knew what he meant, I couldn't help myself.

"Me?"

"Yeah, it's why I never told you." he explained, scratching his head a little awkwardly. "Well, that and you might let it slip to Harper. She could always get you to tell her anything if she tried hard enough." He grinned a little wistfully at this, but continued nonetheless. "But a part of me did always wonder." He shook his head. "I mean, it sounds insane I know, and I know you would never do something like that. But she had that huge crush on you Freshman year, and I dunno." He shrugged. "I guess I couldn't help but fear every once and a while, that the person who might take my sister away from me, might be my best friend."

I had no idea what to say to this. He looked so guilty and miserable to have hidden something like this, but I couldn't exactly be angry. Not when I'd kept how I felt about his sister a secret from him for so long. Maybe he'd been right.

But it couldn't go as far as to say it. Instead, I grabbed onto the only part of this statement I could even start to think of a response to.

"She had a crush on me?" I asked in disbelief, thinking back to our first year of high school. How often she'd get irritated with me, or complain that having me around was like getting another annoying brother. "I thought she hated me back then. She acted like she couldn't stand me."

"Yeah." He said and I was amazed to see half an amused smile quirk into life at the corner of his mouth. "That's how I could tell. Harper doesn't exactly like dealing with strong feelings." He pointed out still sounding a little entertained. "I think she sees them as a waste of mental energy, and she really liked you. It drove her crazy. To be honest, I'm not sure how you didn't notice."

I knew I should have been honest with Charlie, and that it wasn't just Harper who'd had more than friends on their mind when we'd first met, but I couldn't. I was too stunned at the information and the fact that Charlie, of all people, was the one telling me this.

I was sure the shock was written plain on my face, because he didn't seem to expect me to say anything in response.

"Look." He said with a sigh. "I didn't come here to make you feel guilty or blame you or anything like that. I know you're just trying to help, and I know that you're right. We can't ignore what my mother said, I just… I just wanted you to know that I'm not crazy." The expression he gave me was a mix between defiance and a desperate grief. It was the look of someone who was angry at the situation he was in, but knew he could do nothing about it. "I know my sister isn't helpless, but this isn't a normal mission. Harper is in real danger, and anyone who goes with her will be too. I figured you should know."

His words seemed innocent enough, but something about the way he said them made me hesitate.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously. "Because you think it would make me change my mind?"

I expected him to deny this, to say he knew it wouldn't, but he didn't.

Instead, he shrugged.

"She's not your sister."

I looked at him incredulously, a part of me wondering if the stress he was under had temporarily relieved him of his sanity.

"Charlie." I said trying not to sound angry. How could that have crossed his mind? Did he know me at all? Had he ever really trusted me? "You're my best friend. I care about Harper just as much as you."

"I know." He said nodding, but I noticed he didn't seem to want to meet my gaze as he continued. "That was always the problem, wasn't it?"

It was so soft, I wasn't sure I was meant to hear it.

"What-" I started confused, but he'd already pushed passed me.

"Harper and I will meet you at the Big House tomorrow morning." He said walking towards the cabin door. He sounded so defeated. "I'm going to try and get some sleep until then. Let me know if you need anything."

"Alright." I said quietly, watching as he stepped out into the sunlight, wondering if I should had gone after him. A part of me wanted to ask him what he'd meant, but rest was too afraid. I had a feeling I knew.

…..

Charlie might have managed to get to sleep after the events of last night, I didn't know, but I didn't. I couldn't.

How was I supposed to sleep after everything that had happened over the past 24 hours? After everything he'd said.

I rolled to my side and hugged my pillow, trying to ignore the footsteps and voices of my siblings talking to each other throughout the cabin. While I imagined most people from the meeting last night had avoided going to activities today to try and sleep like Charlie, I was the only one from cabin seven that had elected to stay in. Sunlight gave us energy, and trying to sleep through nice weather, which Camp Halfblood always seemed to have, was like trying to take a nap right after chugging an energy drink. Practically impossible.

But I didn't feel that energy right now.

I watched for hours, in a tired sort of blankness, as the patch of light that shone through the room's only window traveled across the floor, manipulating it's beams every once and a while, just for something to do while random thoughts and memories darted through my head.

So Harper had liked me back in the past.

Had she ever stopped?

'Surely she had.' I thought pulling another beam towards me absentmindedly. The light weaved it's way between my fingers before fading. 'She probably would have said something if she hadn't.'

'You didn't.' An unwelcome voice said from the back of my mind.

It reminded me of James, and what he'd said when I'd confronted him about the perfume he'd given Harper. He'd all but called me a manipulator when it came to the Davis twins, a manipulator and a coward.

'But that was different wasn't it?' I thought distantly, not really sure who I was arguing with at this point.

Charlie was my best friend. Harper was his sister. Not just his favorite one, but his twin. If I'd said anything, it would have destroyed everything, wouldn't it? Messed everything up?

That was what I'd told myself all these years, whenever I allowed myself to think about it, which, admittedly, hadn't been often.

'Maybe that's what she'd thought too.' I thought distractedly.

The sun had started to sink, not much, but enough to be noticeable, and I felt the exhaustion it and my thoughts had been keeping at bay starting to creep in.

Closing my eyes, I wondered if the nightmares might be worse tonight now that I finally understood them, when suddenly, a voice shouted.

"Ash! It's time for dinner if you want any!"

It was Libby, and while I tried to ignore it, just the mention of food was enough for my stomach that had been denied both breakfast and lunch today. It gurgled for a moment, then rumbled angrily when I tried to pretend I didn't feel anything.

"Alright." I said annoyed, abandoning any residual hope that I might be able to fall asleep.

I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair, well aware that it was probably a wreck. I didn't care.

As I got to my feet, I heard the cabin door open then shut. Figuring it was probably Libby heading to dinner, I didn't think much of it as I clicked open my trunk, intent on finding a fresh set of clothes. I hadn't bothered to change from last night's sleep shorts and ratty t shirt this morning, figuring I was just going to try and sleep today, but it looked as if that just wasn't going to happen at this point. If I was going to be around other campers, I should probably wear something with less holes in it.

"Ash?"

I turned in the middle of swapping shirts, a little surprised at the familiar voice to see Harper stepping through the door of the bunkroom.

"Oh… sorry." She muttered her eyes darting away from me.

"No problem." I said, quickly pulling on my camp shirt, not really sure why the situation felt a little awkward.

It wasn't as if she hadn't seen me without a shirt before. Our team had practiced shirts vs. skins plenty of times when she'd been watching, people always gave Charlie crap about it, and her father's house had a pool. Hell, I'd even gone on vacation with Davis family to the beach more than once. So, why did it feel suddenly so tense between us?

"What's up?"

She wasn't wearing her glasses of course, because she didn't have them, and she looked so different it was a little distracting.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." she said, and while her voice was steady, I noticed she was running her thumb over the edges of her fingernails, something she only ever did when she was _extremely_ nervous.

"What is it?" I asked frowning at the movement. Only now did I register the bookbag that was slung over her shoulder, and the short sword on her belt. "Harper, is something wrong?"

"What? You mean besides being tricked and humiliated in front of the entire camp, having my mother all but say she hates me in front of my family, and threatened by the Gods?" she asked sarcastically.

The bag shifted as she crossed her arms over her chest, and looked away from me.

"Your mother doesn't hate you." I said gently and she let out a bitter laugh.

"Fine, thinks I'm a failure, whatever."

Her expression was hard, but this time her voice did waver, and I had a feeling anger wasn't the only reason she was avoiding my gaze. Something about the tightness in her tone told me that out of everything that had happened over the past day, her mother's disappointment was the thing that had hurt her the most.

"Harper-" I started, but she cut me off.

"Don't Ash." She said with a sigh. She glanced back at me and I saw that already her composure was back. "I don't want your sympathy. I don't deserve it, and besides, we don't exactly have time for it anyways."

"We don't leave until tomorrow," I pointed out sinking back onto my bunk.

She still looked tired, but not as exhausted as before and distantly I wondered if she'd actually managed to sleep. I didn't know how she could of, not with everything going on, then again, she didn't know everything that was going on, did she?

Should I tell her?

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," she admitted uncrossing her arms, reverting back to her nervous habit. "I think we should leave now."

"Now?" I asked in shock and she nodded.

"You're already packed," she said gesturing towards the overstuffed bag resting next to my bed, my quiver and bow propped up against it. "And we don't have a lot of time."

"Even if we wait until tomorrow, that still gives us plenty of time to find-"

"Nine days." She interrupted, a hint of anxiety creeping into her tone. "Nine. That's not a lot of time Ash, barely over a week. Not just to locate, but also bring back a son of Hermes, who doesn't want to be found." She shook her head. "Who could be at multiple locations, at any given time."

"We'll find him." I assured her, trying to keep the exhaustion out of my tone, but she again she shook her head, harder this time.

"No Ash, I don't think we will. And even if we did find him, what guarantee do we have that he hasn't told someone else about the information he stole? Even if we did manage to catch him and bring him before the Gods, what's to stop someone else from trying to do what he did? The problem isn't solved, it's just… passed on to someone else."

I wanted to comfort her at this statement, but her tone wasn't resigned, it was realistic. This was something she'd thought about.

"Well," I said, frowning slightly, but she made a good point. I hadn't really memorized the finer points of everything that was going on, just that James was looking to control method of traveling between the divine dominions that was currently unstable. "What do you think we should do?"

"I think we should try to beat him to it."

"What? The library?" I asked a feeling skeptic.

Did she want to set a trap for James if he actually managed to find it? Assuming we managed to find it ourselves.

"No." she said resolutely. "The key."

She said this as if I was supposed to know what she was talking about, then, when it was obvious I didn't, she continued.

"Even if James did manage to get into the library, it wouldn't do him much. The interrealm is unpredictable. The only way to control where you end up is by the doors through it to each domain. And the only way you can control them is-"

"With their key." I finished for her and she nodded.

"If we found it, it wouldn't matter if James managed to get into the library. Or if anyone else did for that matter. We could turn it over to Chiron or something, he could make sure it got into the hands of the right person. Maybe even open the library back up."

I hesitated for a moment, considering the idea.

"You honestly think we could find it before him?"

We were a day behind James, and now we weren't just playing catch up. We were trying to get ahead.

"I do." She said with a nod, and while she sounded tired, there was confidence in her tone. "He might have the information he needs to find the key, but this is something I've studied for years. And they key, where ever it might be, isn't a moving target. James is. But I still think we should get going. I might have had longer to think about this but with the scrolls, James won't be far behind."

"Alright." I said shrugging. "If that's what you think needs to be done then we'll do it."

She looked relieved, but the expression changed with what I said next.

"Let's go find Charlie. Tell him there's been a change of plans. Is he in the dining pavilion?" I asked while standing. "We can head out after dinner."

"I don't think Charlie should come with us." She said quietly and I froze.

"What?" I asked incredulously, looking at her as if she was insane. "Harper, you can't be serious."

"I am." She said and while her expression was guilty, her tone was stubborn. "I don't think he should go."

"But why?" I asked.

I couldn't believe this. The twins did everything together, well, all the important things. School, camp, Harper went to all of our tournaments, even the ones out of state, and when Harper had been accepted to that research program in Canada last December, he'd somehow managed to convince his Dad they should spend our winter break there, and that I should go with them. The only time they'd ever spent time apart was when Charlie left camp, and Harper had been left behind. Now that it was Harper's turn, It looked as if she wanted to continue the practice.

"You saw how he was earlier." she said with an exasperated gesture. "He totally freaked out. Every time Charlie think's there's even a hint of danger around me, he goes completely ballistic and you know it." She gave me a look that was half rigid determination, and a sort of hopeless guilt. "If Charlie comes with us he won't be able to keep a clear head. He'll spend what little time we've got trying to keep me out of the way and eliminate any danger, no matter how trivial. He'll drag his heels and argue about what we should do and we won't get anything done."

"Because he cares about you." I protested. "And he's right. Harper, this isn't like a game of capture the flag, or a chariot race." I explained hoping to make her understand that. "This is going to be dangerous. Wouldn't you want Charlie there?"

"No." she said shaking her head, but from the way she bit her lip, I knew the statement wasn't totally true. "I mean, of course I do. But I don't think he'll be able to handle it. Not when it involves me. And I don't want to put him through that." She looked away before she continued. "Besides, it's like I said. We don't have a lot of time, and if he wastes all of it trying to keep me safe… well," the corner of her mouth lifted slightly in the same way Charlie's had earlier. The ghost of a bitter smile. "It won't have mattered much what he did, will it?"

A silence fell over us, and I realized that this was the first time I'd heard her say this out loud. That she understood the position she was in. That the gods were angry with her. And things were a lot worse than most people were letting on.

"You know I'm right." She said glancing at me.

She looked so different without her glasses. Older, not like the dorky little kid I knew her brother had never really stopped seeing her as, and against my volition, I felt another stab of hatred towards James. The person who'd caused all of this.

But it wasn't just the glasses, and the fact she was no longer wearing them. She looked more focused, as if the part of her attention that was normally wandering, lost in thought or devoted to a book, had finally found something important enough to apply itself too.

She'd always been confident, and she'd always been smart, but this was the first time either of those traits had been put under real pressure and she wasn't bending. If anything, it seemed to bring them out further. It was a little intimidating.

"Maybe." I said eventually, and while I knew Harper had a point, just admitting it felt like betraying my best friend. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to ward off the discomfort. "But he's not going to listen. If you try to tell him to stay behind, he's going to freak."

"That's why we wouldn't." she said quietly.

"Harper-" I started, feeling exhaustion wash over me yet again, but she interjected before I could get any further.

"If we leave now, it might take him hours to notice." She said quickly. "He might not even realize until tomorrow."

"I can't just not tell him."

"Then I'll go by myself." She said stubbornly, her eyes flashing as they snapped to mine and a surge of shock went through me.

She was serious…

"Harper, you can't-"

"I can and I will." She said sharply. "And don't tell me it's dangerous." She continued stubbornly, forestalling my argument. "I know that."

But she didn't know, not really, because Charlie had never told her about the prophecy.

Maybe that made her right though. Charlie's attempt to protect Harper from the truth had gotten us into this situation. One in which Harper was thrust into a fate she'd had absolutely no idea belonged to her. One she could have been ready for, it if he hadn't done everything he could to keep her from finding about. And she was right. He'd continue to do it, no matter how much we tried to reason with him.

"Look, I came here to ask you to come with me Ash." She said her gaze steady. "I don't want to go alone, but I will if I have to. And you can't stop me."

She was right about this too of course. Only Harper knew where we needed to go and the position it put me in was as impossible as it was awful.

"You're asking me to choose between you and Charlie." I said quietly and she guilt crossed her features.

She didn't bother to deny it. Harper wouldn't hate me for siding with her brother, I knew that, but if I helped her leave without him… well, I wasn't sure Charlie would ever speak to me after that. Even if it was the only real option. She couldn't do this alone.

"Look, I understand if you don't want to come." She said softly, looking away from me. "I don't want to put you in a spot you don't want to be. I just…" but her sentence faded, and there was a hint of emotion in her eyes before she quickly pushed it back, but not quickly enough for me to see it. She was more afraid than she was letting on. "Just, don't tell Charlie. Not before tomorrow. Or, ever, maybe. He'll try to stop me if he finds out."

"Harper." I said incredulously. "I'm not letting you go alone."

"You're not?" she asked her eyes going a little wider in surprise as she glanced at me, something like hope in her expression.

"No."

It always amazed me how her eyes, despite being the same exact color as her brothers, held so much more expression. You shouldn't have been able to see so many emotions in a single shade of green. It made it almost impossible to look away.

In the end, it wasn't even a choice. I knew Charlie would say that as his best friend, I should try to stop her, go to him or Chiron immediately and prevent her from leaving, but that wasn't going to solve this. And he wasn't the only Davis I cared about.

I knew Harper well enough to know that she was going to do what she was going to do, and Charlie wasn't going to be able to stop her. I cared about them enough to do what had to be done, even if he had to hate me for it. I wouldn't let Harper do this on her own.

"You're sure?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." I said with a nod, and she continued to look at me for a moment.

I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but it was clear I had surprised her. She hadn't expected me to come with her.

"Then we should get going." She said calmly, but I could tell it was an act. "While everyone's at dinner."

She held out a hand, which I took and she pulled me to my feet.

"You know, you make that look a lot easier than I do." She said a little absently as I grabbed my bag, and I grinned a little.

"There's a lot more of me than there is of you."

'You should tell her the truth.' A guilty voice said in the back of my mind said. 'You should tell her everything.'

Harper still didn't know about the prophecy. About what she was really getting into, but, did she really need to know?

'It wasn't like it changed anything.' I reasoned putting my bow over my shoulder, remember the flash of fear that had crossed her features before she'd hidden it.

In the end, the objective was the same wasn't it? Stop James from getting control of a doorway between the divine realms. She didn't need to hear a prophecy to do that. We already had a plan.

'There's no reason to scare her.' I thought, trying to quell the surge of unease the justification brought up.

She didn't need that hanging over her. We just needed to focus on what was a head of us. The job we had to do. Not dire predictions about what might happen.

"You ready?" she asked as I secured the strap on my quiver, and despite her best efforts, I heard the anxiety in her tone.

"Yeah." I confirmed with another nod and she copied the movement.

"Alright. Let's go then."

But when she turned to leave the room, I caught her hand.

"What?" She asked glancing back at me, and again, while she was doing a good job of keeping the fear down, I could see it. And it made me glad I decided not to burden her with the information that both Charlie, and now I, knew.

"It'll be ok. You know that, right?" I asked her and something in her expression seemed to faulter. "We'll get this sorted out."

I didn't know if what I said made her feel better at first, or had just succeeded in reminding her just how serious things were for her, but then her fingers interlaced with mine. And while it might not have seemed like a big deal to anyone else, her words were as meaningful to me as they were familiar.

"I know."


	17. Chapter 17

Hello everyone. I know it's been a while. Life got sort of complicated. It was a struggle to get this posted but I hope you like it. As always thank you to everyone for the positive support.

~ secrethalfblood

Hpov

New York was louder than I remembered.

I'd only been to the city once. Charlie and I had gotten a brief chance to explore it years ago with our father when we'd had a day between flights, but despite having such little time, we'd managed to see a lot.

Somehow, the last time I was here, all the movement and noise had seemed so much more exciting. Maybe I was just tired.

I narrowly avoided others on the sidewalk, lost in thought, trying not to wince as I saw my reflection in a cab window.

Ashton and I had 'borrowed' a Pegasus from camp to get to the city, and while I'd ridden them a couple times during activities, that hadn't prepared me for the breakneck chaos that was a flying horse given free rein.

With wind swept hair and running on almost no sleep, I was pretty sure I looked as if I'd fallen out of a tree and hit every branch on the way down.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Ashton asked uncertainly, glancing at the boarded windows of the row house.

"Yeah." I said, glancing at the bronze plaque resting on the wall next to the door. The brick was crumbling, and a black iron grate had been locked over the entrance, barring us from entering the building. The metal was tarnished, but I could still make the lettering on it.

Thyrian Exchange

Est. 1801

_All wisdom has its price_

"This is it."

"This place has been here since 1801?" Ashton asked skeptically, glancing at the building his eyes narrowing, as if he found this hard to believe.

"No." I said shaking my head. "That's when the society was founded. It had some mortal members, but for the most part, it was sort of like the modern-day attempt to get something like the Cordrian Library up and running. They had plans to get posts in other major cities, but the membership died off sometime in the early 1900s as far as I could tell. This was the most recent attempt to bring it back in the 90s. But at that point the internet made it kind of unnecessary." I said gesturing towards building. "It didn't really work out."

"How on Olympus do you know that?" he asked looking at me incredulously and I shrugged.

"There were some newspaper clippings filed away in the Big House with adds for campers that might want to join. The rest you can just google."

"Of course, you can." he said with a sigh and glancing at the grate. "Well, what should we do?"

"We need to find a way inside."

One of the most recent accounts of a hint as to where the Library's key might have been hidden, was thought be safeguarded by one of the better-known legacy family's line. Who, if the text could be believed, might have been directly related to the Athenian king himself. The name had gone through a couple changes over the generations, mostly due to marriages. But the most recent name I could find was Eugene Hartfield.

The man who just so happened to be credited as the founder of the Thyrian Exchange.

"What? Like break in?" Ashton asked raising his eyebrows, and glancing back at the building.

"Do you have an alternative?" I asked.

The was the most recent information I had found that might have been even remotely related to the Cordrian Library. And it might have a clue as to where we could find the Keeper's Key.

"Not really." He admitted with a sigh and looking around. "But if we're going to commit a crime, we might want to wait until it gets darker."

It was nearly seven now, but seeing as it was summer, there was still plenty of light out. Cars sped by on the cracked pavement, and people pushed past each other on the sidewalk, shooting evil glares at others who might bump into them as they walked.

No one was paying too much attention to the teenagers loitering on the steps to an abandoned house. But I had a feeling Ashton was right, and that might change if we started breaking things.

"Well," I said a little awkwardly. "I guess we should come back later?"

He nodded and together, we started walked back down the steps to join the stream of people on the sidewalk.

"What do we do until then."

"Food." Ashton said his tone resolute. "I haven't eaten all day. I'm starving."

We stopped at the first pizza place we found, where I was amazed to hear Ashton order an extra large pizza.

"Who are you feeding?" I asked incredulously as we took a seat at a small table in the corner I was convinced the box would be bigger than. The place wasn't anything special. A small shop with a black and white, checkered floor, and a counter behind which you could see the staff making the orders. It was slightly dingy, with fluorescent lighting, and posters on the walls that had faded just enough, to tell me that while the place didn't look like much, the food was probably pretty darn good.

"Myself." He said, as if this should have been obvious, but when I raised an eyebrow, his tone turned defensive. "What? I _said_ I was hungry. Don't worry. I told them not to put peppers on your side."

I was going to respond that I couldn't eat half an extra-large pizza by myself when I noticed just how exhausted he looked. I knew he probably hadn't gotten a lot of rest last night, none of us did. But had he gotten any?

"What?" he asked when he saw me looking at him.

"You look tired." I said frowning.

No one else was sitting in the restaurant, it seemed as if this place did mostly carry out, and now that we'd taken a moment to sit down despite the chaos of everything going on at the moment, I finally got a good look at him.

"I am tired." He shrugged. "That's what happens when you don't sleep."

"You didn't sleep at all?" I asked and though I had suspected this, it was still alarming to hear. "Not even this morning after the meeting?"

"You know me." He said waving the question away and while the gesture was casual, something about his expression had me worried. "I can't nap. Apollo kids are wired to be up during the day."

"Still," I muttered uncertainly, not liking the shadows under his eyes.

He looked worse than he had twenty minutes ago, probably because the sun was starting to set, taking all of his energy with it.

A surge of guilt went through me at this realization. Why didn't I notice this before? Why hadn't I asked?

I'd been so wrapped up in my own problems, so determined to do things my way I hadn't considered what it might be doing to him. And Ashton being who he was, would never say anything.

"You don't have to look so worried Bambi." He said and I felt a flash of irritation interrupt my concern. "This isn't my first all nighter."

I wanted to retort, but before I could come up with a response, one of the employees came out from behind the counter and dropped an enormous pizza box on the small table between us, covering it entirely.

The man gave Ashton and irritable look, as his hip knocked into Ashton's quiver resting on the table next to us and distractedly, I wondered what he saw. A canister maybe? The sort you carried important documents or prints in. Or a yoga mat maybe? Rolled up to carry after a the gym. Ashton's weapons were enchanted, hidden from mortals by the Mist, but it was still hard to wrap my head around sometimes just how much they didn't notice.

'Maybe you're not so different.' A small voice said guiltily from the back of my mind as again I noticed the shadows under his eyes.

"Finally." He said eagerly, opening the box and grabbing a slice.

We didn't talk as we ate, I didn't think he had time to with the amount of pizza he'd manage to consume in the short time it had been at our table, but as he'd started his second slice on my half, I saw him hesitate.

"What's wrong?" I asked setting down my soda, a sense of anxiety creeping through me as his eyes narrowed.

"I'm not sure." He muttered uncertainly, and I followed his gaze out the window. "Was it cloudy earlier?"

It had started to rain outside, drops darkening the pavement, wind blowing trash off the sidewalk and into the road.

I was about to respond when suddenly, the room light up with a blinding flash, followed by an explosion of thunder that rattled the windows.

The door to the pizza shop burst open, gale force winds spraying rain onto the tiled floor, tossing napkins into the air.

I felt a tug at my sleeve just before I was pulled off my chair and behind the table Ashton had kicked over not a moment too soon.

The room lit up again as an arc of lightning that crashed into the wall behind us, right over the chair in which I'd been sitting.

A jolt of adrenaline went through me and my eyes went wide.

That had been close.

"What-" I started but I was cut off by a crash of thunder so loud, it shattered the storefront window.

Vaguely, I was aware of the mortals in the shop shouting and running for cover, but as they scrambled for the door, a figure stepped through it, it's shadowy form slipping through the mortals like a ghost.

"Well, well, well." a voice called out arrogantly and Ashton swore fitting an arrow to his bow. "What do we have here? Back out in the mortal world so soon Wells?"

Ashton fired a shot, but the arrow was vaporized out of the air, the creature's electric eyes sparking as the room flashed.

"Ash," I said as the creature's body began to take shape, blacks wings jutting out from its body of dark swirling vapor. "What's going on?"

The wind was picking up now, scattering broken glass everywhere as Ashton took another shot, but it sailed through the creature leaving it unharmed.

"Charlie and I ran into some storm spirits on our last mission." He muttered ducking behind the table again as a chair sailed over us. "It wasn't pretty. I didn't expect them to reform this quickly though."

"Where's your friend Wells?" The voice asked mockingly as another gust tore through the shop, snatching at my hair. "I figured he'd be with you, seeing as you seem to be inseparable after all." He paused for a moment, but when he continued, I could practically feel the sneer he was wearing in his tone. "Doesn't he want to protect his baby sister?"

A jolt of surprise went through me at this. While I'd fought plenty of monsters in my time, I'd never run into any storm spirits. How did he know who I was?

"Go to hell." Ashton snarled and just as he pulled back his bowstring, the blub above us flickered, giving me an idea.

"Ash!" I shouted over the chaos. "The light!"

Someone else might have asked what I meant by this, or question the decision, but Ashton didn't.

Instead, he changed targets mid-shot, and his arrow shattered through the glass of the light above the spirit, showering it with sparks.

The creature shrieked with surprise, but we didn't stick around to see what it would do.

Together we vaulted over the table, over the slick tiles and broken glass, then out the shattered window.

"How the Hades did he get out of Tartarus that fast?" Ashton asked furiously as we sprinted away from the shop, pushing past New Yorkers that were diving into whatever buildings they could to wait out the sudden storm.

"How did it know who I was?" I shouted back over continued rumbles of thunder.

"I dunno, but we must have really pissed him off if he's taken such a personal interest in us."

We continued running. The sidewalks were almost empty of mortals now and the storm spirit caught up with us, there was nowhere to hide.

I turned to look over my shoulder to see if we were being followed when something caught my eye and I skidded to a hault.

"We gotta keep moving Bambi." Ashton said grabbing my arm but I resisted the pressure.

"Ashton, wait."

I pointed across the street. We were opposite the building we'd visited earlier, the bronze plaque glinting dully in the orange glow of the street lights.

"Harper, I don't think-" he started anxiously glancing back down the street in the direction of the pizza place, but I'd already began to cross.

Cars honked as I crossed the puddle strewn pavement, Ashton swearing and jogging after me.

"Harper, it's locked." He said rattling the grate over the door for emphasis as the wind and the rain started to pick up. "I think we should come ba-"

But he cut himself off as, drawn by some instinct I couldn't have explained, I reached out to the grate.

There was a soft 'click' the moment my fingers brushed the metal, and I watched in astonishment, as with much creaking and shedding of rusty flakes, the grate slid back.

A second click and the door to the row house opened as if welcoming us into the foyer, but with a very 'haunted mansion' sort of feel to the greeting.

"Ok..." Ashton said uneasily before glancing at me, clearly looking for some sort of explanation. "You want to tell me what that is about?"

"I have no idea." I said honestly, then frowned when he squinted at me. "What?"

"I don't think I've ever asked a question you didn't have an answer for."

"Something tells me this won't be the last time it happens over the next few days." I muttered looking into the shadowy hall. "Well," I glanced back at Ashton. "Think we should check it out?"

Before he could answer however, there was another crash of thunder that shook the earth, and the clouds above us started to swirl.

Lightning darted to pavement, causing cars to slam into their breaks and collide as dark vapor poured from the sky into a roiling, corporeal shape.

"WELLS!" the spirit shouted with a deafening rage, the sky rumbling along with its words.

The next thing I knew, Ashton had all but tackled me through the door slamming it and the grate closed behind us.

We toppled into the hallway, hitting the floor as what looked like dark smoke spread along the frosted glass of the door, billowing along the wall and over the windows, clearly looking for any entrances into the house. There didn't seem to be any, and after a few angry flashes of lightning and earth shaking rumbles of thunder, the rain started to slow.

Taking several deep breaths, I willed my heart rate to slow down, only to feel it shoot right back up again as my eyes met Ashton's and I realized my limbs were still tangled with his.

"Sorry." I muttered, not really sure why I was apologizing, but feeling embarrassed all the same.

I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around.

The light in the house was dim, limited to what filtered in from the street lights outside, but from what I could tell, the place looked pretty run down.

Dust coated the ledges and floors, and the runner that lined the wooden floors of the hallway had faded with age.

I got to my feet, drops of water rolling off of me and onto the floor. Both my clothes and my hair were soaked.

Shivering slightly, I hugged myself trying to ignore the gloom and the cold, when suddenly, the narrow hall was filled with a gentle golden light that dispelled both.

I didn't have to turn to know what had happened, but I did anyways.

Light flared in Ashton's palm in bright wisps that swirled lazily around each other. His hair was damp, and shade darker than its usual gold, but he seemed to be drying faster than I was.

"You looked cold." He said with a shrug.

I couldn't help but smile as I turned to look around the house in the new light.

Sticking close to Ashton and the heat he was radiating, I started to move down the hall.

Though the house couldn't have been that old, it was decorated in the fashion of a much earlier era. Gas lamps lined the walls, and the paper that lined them, with it's elaborate patterns, would have looked at home in the Victorian era. We passed what looked like a sitting room with heavy drapes, ornate velvet couches and a brass chandelier. There even seemed to be a fireplace, though the building from the outside hadn't seemed to have a chimney.

Books were stacked on shelves that lined the walls but when I went to examine them, Ashton put a hand on my shoulder.

"What?" I asked a little surprised.

"Harper, I know you want answers," he said quietly. "But we should probably check this place out a little more before we start messing with it."

"Alright." I said with a shrug, noticing that he seemed a little on edge.

I mean, I guess I couldn't blame him. This place looked as if it had been time warped out of the early nineteen hundreds then abandoned for decades, but something about it felt oddly familiar. As if I'd been here, or someplace like it, before.

We continued to walk through the hall seeing a worn stair case, a tiny old fashion bathroom, and at the far end of the hall was a wide room with several high-backed chairs. They surrounded a massive table, it's surface glossy and made out of a dark heavy wood that looked to be in surprisingly good condition for how long the place seemed to have been abandoned.

"No dust." I said surprised, running my finger along the table, only for it to come up clean. "Think someone might have been here recently? James maybe?"

"Maybe," Ashton said gripping his bow a little tighter. "Or maybe something else. Let's check out the upstairs."

I followed him to the second level where a part of me expected to find bedrooms, but seemed to only be used for storage. Boxes were stacked high along the walls as well as in-between filing cabinets, which seemed to house mostly administrative things. Names of past members, address, and accounting records.

Finally, we made it to the basement, and it was there I knew that I had been right about this place.

"Whoa." Ashton said his eyes going wide as the light illuminated the room, and we saw what was inside.

There were boxes here as well, but the stone walls were lined with weapons that looked as if they dated back to the bronze age, maybe before it. There were crates too, large wooden one that looked as if they were full of relics. Ancient coins and scrolls that belonged to who knew what period. Tall shelves held a wide range of books, mostly in English from what I could tell, but there were others in Greek and Latin. In between the swords and shields were banners with depictions from scenes of historic battles, as well as famous legends like the Iliad and the Odyssey.

There was a door opposite the stairs, with a battered door knob that looked as if it was rusting, and its red paint chipped and faded to the color of old brick.

"Think that goes anywhere?" Ashton asked raising an eyebrow and nodding at the door.

"I don't see how it could." I said with a shrug. "Unless it's connected to the house next to this one."

"We should still probably check it out." He said muttered and while Ashton looked uncomfortable, I felt a surge of excitement go through me.

Despite the circumstances, a part of me still couldn't believe this was happening. That I was actually getting the chance to unravel a mystery that had been passed through generations of the Athenian demigods. That the Cordrian library not only wasn't just a thing of legend anymore, and with any luck, I might actually get to see it.

'Get it together Harper.' I thought, mentally chiding myself. 'Don't lose your head.'

But that didn't stop me from grinning as I made my way down the last few steps, eager to start looking through everything that was here.

We crossed the room towards the door, but when Ashton attempted to turn the knob, it didn't budge.

"I think it's rusted shut." He said, his voice straining with effort as he continued to tug on the door.

"Want help?" I asked, but the moment I reached forward, there was a cracking sound. I was thrown off my feet as the door gave way and Ashton lurched backwards, landing flat on top of me, knocking the air out of my lungs.

"Well that's anticlimactic." He said sounding a little bemused as I wheezed, trying to regain my breath. "Sorry." He added hastily, scrambling off of me and looking down. "Are you ok?"

"Fine." I said waving him off and rubbing my ribs and while he grinned, Ashton did look a little guilty.

I glanced at the door to see that he was right. There was nothing exciting behind it, in fact, there was nothing behind it all just. Just a blank space of stone mirroring the wall next to it.

"I wonder why this is here." I said still a little winded, but getting to my feet and placing my palm along the stone. It was solid and cold, and seemed to be a part of the original structure. Not somehow added after the fact.

"It's an older building." Ashton said with a shrug, seeming unconcerned. "Sometimes they have weird stuff like that."

"Yeah, maybe." I said with a frown, and though I turned away, there was a strange feeling that lingered within me. As if the reason it was here should have been obvious, and had just somehow gone over my head.

"I'm going to get started looking through this stuff." I said gesturing towards the nearest stack of boxes. "It might take a while, but there might be something useful in them."

"Where do you want me to start?" he asked glancing around the room looking a little intimidated at the sheer volume of stuff that was in it, but I shook my head.

"You need to sleep."

"So do you." he said pointed out stubbornly. "Besides, there's no lamps down here. If I sleep, then you'll have no light."

He gestured towards the beams that were hovering next to him. He'd let them drift when trying to open the door.

"I will actually." I said sliding my bag off of my shoulders and reaching into it.

After a couple seconds of rummaging, I pulled out the book light Allison and Tamera had given me for my birthday and switched it to the normal setting. The little bulb flared into life and Ashton gave it a skeptical look. As if he didn't trust such a small object to keep the darkness at bay.

"I'll be fine Ash." I assured him. "You need sleep. Besides, you know me." I shrugged. "I'm not going to be able to sleep without looking through at least some of this stuff."

He looked as if he wanted to argue with me, but wasn't quite sure where to start and eventually, he gave in.

"Alright." He said quietly, and while he still looked unhappy, I could tell his exhaustion had well and truly set in.

He slipped off his book bag and set it in the corner before sitting next to it.

"You'll wake me up if you think something weird's going on, right?" he asked. "Even if it's just a feeling?"

"Yeah." I agreed and he gave me one last look before laying down, his head resting on his bag.

It took a moment, but eventually, the light he'd summoned started to dim as his breathing slowed and his face relaxed until it had been dispelled completely, leaving the room feeling much colder than it had before.

I allowed myself a few more seconds to look at him, making sure he was really asleep, before turning to the mountain of material that was before me.

'You shouldn't have dragged him into this.' A voice said quietly in the back of my mind, and guilt flooded through me.

I knew Charlie was going to be furious with me when I got back to camp, if I got back, but would he ever forgive Ashton for coming with me?

I wanted to believe he would, but I wasn't sure.

"It's too late to think about that now." I muttered to myself, trying to force myself to believe it. "It's done."

We'd made our choices, there wasn't any going back.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to clear my thoughts before attacking what looked like hours of work before me while I was running pretty much on empty.

A deep breath and I opened my eyes.

"Alright Harper." I said quietly. "Time to get to work."


	18. Chapter 18

Apov

_I glanced around the court a little uncertainly, not entirely sure where I fit in. It was my first summer at this crazy camp, and a couple of my brothers, who'd noticed I was tall for my age, suggested I play basketball with them in order to get to know people better. _

_The last few days had gone pretty well, but I wasn't sure how much people actually wanted to get to know me. I had a feeling I was mostly invited to come back because I made about seventy percent of the three pointers I attempted. There was one upshot, however. _

_I smiled when I saw, that as she had for the past three days, the pretty girl with the glasses was sitting just off the side of the court._

_"Hey. Can I ask you something?" I asked and the guy next to me looked up. _

_His name was Aaron. He was a camper from the Aphrodite cabin, and one of the few guys here that was around my age. _

_"What's up?" _

_"Who's the girl with the book?" _

_"Who?" he asked sounding a little confused, and I nodded in her direction. __She seemed to have made a lot of progress since yesterday, judging by the number of pages she'd jumped ahead. _

_"Oh." He said as if he'd only just noticed her. "That's Harper Davis. She always watches." _

_His tone was causal, and I realized this must have been a long-standing thing. Why else would a bunch of boys ignore a pretty girl watching them play unless they were used to her?_

_"What does she have a thing for basketball players or something?" I asked with a laugh, privately wondering if I was getting my own hopes up._

_I'd tried to play it off as a joke, but clearly it didn't work, because his eyebrow shot up. _

_"Not as far as I know." He said with a knowing tone in his voice and a smirk. "I think her brother usually plays and she comes to watch." The smirk grew. "Why? You got a thing for bookworms?" _

_ "Not usually." I admitted, figuring it was probably pointless to try and pretend I didn't think she was cute in front of son of Aphrodite of all people. "She's pretty though." _

_Her dark hair was long, falling far past her shoulders which were slim like the rest of her frame. She was very attractive with pretty features that she seemed to like to hide behind the square glasses she never seemed to take off. I had a feeling the only reason more people hadn't noticed her, was because they couldn't see past the layer of nerd she was hiding her good looks under. Then again, maybe someone had. Maybe she had a boyfriend and that was the reason people didn't seem that interested._

_"Yeah. I guess so." He said as if he hadn't considered this, and was just now realizing it. "I'll be honest I don't know much about her. From what I can tell, she doesn't seem to talk a lot." _

_"Does she not like people or something?" _

_"Not that I've heard." He shrugged. "I think she just prefers books." _

_"I see." I muttered feeling a little discouraged at this._

_There was a moment where I continued to look at her, uncertain what I should do at this point, and Aaron seemed to sense it. _

_"You going to talk to her?" he asked raising and eyebrow for a second time. "Or just ask random people about her and stare at her like a lost puppy?" _

_"I dunno," I said uncertainly. "She's reading."_

_"Just talk to her dude." he said rolling his eyes. _

_"I don't want to bother her." _

_"She's a daughter of Athena." He said with a slightly wry smile. "Trust me. If she doesn't want to talk to you, she'll let you know." _

_"How on earth is that supposed to be encouragement?" I asked him indigently and he shrugged. _

_"If she doesn't like you, she's not going to waste your time. Then you'll know. And you can stop staring at her like the creep you have been the last couple of days."_

_I blinked. _

_Had I really been that obvious?_

_I glanced back at Aaron, and by his expression, I was willing to bet I had been._

_ "Alright." I said with a sigh, mentally adding. 'Here goes nothing.' _

_I stepped off the court and took a deep breath, then walked over to the girl feeling my heart rate jump even higher than it did before a game._

_ Only when I was in front of her, did occur to me that I probably should have worked out some sort of plan. Something to talk about or a compliment to ease into conversation. Now that I was here standing in front of the girl I'd been crushing on the past few days, I had no idea what to say. Even worse, she didn't even seem to notice me standing right in front of her._

_Was she ignoring me?_

_"You know, most girls that come to the court, don't bring a separate form of entertainment." _

_The girl jumped, clearly a little startled at being addressed, then glanced up at me from behind her glasses. And just like that, I felt as if I'd been hit by a truck._

_Her eyes were gorgeous. Light green and curious, with crazy long lashes and the expressiveness that could get you lost in them from a single glance. Immediately I felt my brain turn off, and I scrambled to get it back online when I realized she was responding to what I'd said. _

_"Most people who come to watch basketball are entertained by the sport." She said and while it sounded like an insult, I could tell it wasn't. She said it like a fact and with a half sort of apologetic smile, as if she felt a little guilty for ragging on the sport. _

_"Not you?" I asked stupidly, still unable to get my brain to function at full capacity. _

_I couldn't get over how stunning her eyes were or why she'd ever want to hide them behind her glasses. They were like jade. The longer she looked at me the more I felt like I was in that scene from the Disney movie, where the Bambi had seen the Faline for the first time in years and transformed into to a bumbling idiot. _

_That was the kind of eyes she had. The kind that stopped a guy in his tracks and short circuited his brain with one glance. They were just always focused on a book._

_"I've watched a lot of basketball." She said with a shrug, clearly not experiencing the same problem. "I haven't read this book." _

_I was tempted to ask her why she would come if she wasn't that interested in the sport, but had the feeling I was losing her interest._

_"What are you reading?" I asked hoping it might get the momentum of the conversation going. _

_She didn't answer, but she did hold up the cover which I read aloud. _

_"'Hydrogen: The element that changed the world.'" I grinned feeling my brain slide back into place a little as I looked at the cover art. "Sounds __**super**__ fascinating." _

_She shrugged. _

_"Personally, I think there's a lot to be said for oxygen, but that's just my opinion." _

_"Have a strong stance elements huh?" I asked curiously. This girl was well and truly a nerd. "You must be fun at parties." _

_"Well, if you've got a pragmatic mind like me, you could invite me to one and see for yourself." _

_'Wait what?' I thought a little surprised. I'd figured this conversation had been going downhill, but unless I was mistaken, that was a pretty clear invitation to ask her out. It was almost as if she was telling me to get on with it._

_"You should probably know my name before I do that." I said feeling a little more confident._

_"Well, then you should probably tell me what it is." She said with a slight smirk. "That is why you came over here right?" She raised an eyebrow playfully. "Or did you want to talk about hydrogen? And please," she gave me a significant look. "Spare me any lines about 'reactions' or 'chemistry'." _

_It was clear that she was much smarter than I was, and wasn't going to give me any breaks because I'd only just now realized I'd gotten in over my head. But I found I sort of liked that. _

_It was obvious she'd made up her mind if she wanted to talk to me or not, and her message was clear. Make your move, or you'll lose your chance. _

_"I'm Ashton." I said extending a hand._

_"Harper." She responded shaking it. _

_"So, is it normal for you to give everyone this much shit when you first meet them?" I asked and she smiled. It was adorable._

_"Only the people that I like." _

_I felt a shock go through me at this. Gods Aaron was right. Athena girls were direct. _

_"You came to that conclusion fast." _

_"I process information pretty quickly." She said with a shrug and I laughed, only a little intimidated._

_"I can see that." _

_"Hey! Ash! We're starting!" _

_I glanced over my shoulder to see my brothers waving me back to the court. _

_"I gotta go." I said and hesitated for a second. Then decided just to go for it. "Mind sticking around after the game? I can walk you to your next activity." _

_"So we can talk about hydrogen?" she asked amused and I grinned. _

_"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but yes." I said unaccountably excited about this. "I would love to hear what you have to tell me about Hydrogen. Maybe even oxygen if you've got the time."_

_"Don't get ahead of yourself" She said, but she'd smiled. "That seems like a second date sort of topic if you ask me."_

_'Date?' I thought, unable to stop a grin. Was this really happening? Was she actually interested in me?_

_"Ash!" one of my brothers shouted, clearly exasperated. _

_"You should probably get back." She said nodding towards the court behind me, but then adding. "Who else is going to carry the team with all those three pointers?" _

_So she had been watching…_

_"I'll talk to you in a bit." I said._

_She nodded and her eyes darted back towards her book._

_Hardly able to believe how well the conversation had gone, I turned back to the court and jogged over to my team still sporting what I was sure, was the stupidest smile._

_"Well?" Aaron asked raising an eyebrow and I saw that there seemed to be less people on the court than there normally was when we started. "Did sparks fly?" _

_"No." I said, but my smile grew when I noticed Harper's eyes on me, apparently much more interested in what was going on in the court than she had been just a few minutes ago. "But elements did." _

_"Oh gods," he said rolling his eyes. "If you're going to date one of the Athena kids I'm going to tell you right now. Keep the lame science puns far away from the basketball court." He pointed a finger at me in warning. "I do not want to hear them. Ya got that?" _

_I was about to respond when I noticed someone jog onto the blacktop, looking a little out of breath but was greeted by several of the players. I realized I'd seen him here before, but he'd always been on the other team. _

_"Sorry." He said panting. "Got held up at my last activity."_

_"It's fine." My brother Ben said shaking his head. "You can join our team, we're down one anyways." _

_"Cool." _

_He looked to be about my age, tall as well, with dark hair and though I knew I'd seen him before, something about him seemed familiar now which was weird, considering we'd never spoken before. _

_"What's up guys?" he said jogging to our side of the court and shaking the hands of the players he didn't know. He ended with me. "I'm Charlie." _

_"Hi." I said grinning, wondering why several of the players on the court were giving me uncertain looks. As if they expected some sort of tension between me and the new guy. "Ashton." _

_"Like I don't know that." He said rolling his eyes but he was grinning. "You're the one who always sinks the threes. Mind if I take center?"_

_"No." I said distractedly, my eyes wandering back to Harper. She didn't look up from her book, but I saw the corner of her lip quirk up slightly which told me she knew I was watching her. "Go ahead."_

_The game went pretty well, and I found the more I played with Charlie, the more I liked him. He was funny, good at the sport, and my age. We won pretty easily and in no time, the game was over._

_ I couldn't believe how quickly things developed over the last hour. Just this morning, I'd been worried I wasn't really fitting in all that well at camp. Now, I'd managed not only to talk to Harper, but ask her out, and what was even more amazing, she'd agreed. And, if things kept going the way they were with Charlie, I might have made my first real friend here._

_ After worrying so much this week about not fitting in, things were finally seeming to work themselves out._

_"What's your next activity?" Charlie asked as we walked towards the grass where all the water bottles were lined up next to each other. _

_I caught Harper's eye, and was rewarded by a smile. Something that had happened a couple times during the game. Just as it had each time before, my stomach flipped._

_"I'm supposed to go to the lake." I said and about to mention I'd be walking Harper to her activity before going, but before I could, he looked excited._

_"Really? Me too. We can walk there with my sister." _

_"Your sister?" I asked a little unenthusiastic about meeting another girl when I already had plans with a very pretty one. _

_"Yeah. She's right over there." He pointed ahead of us. "Hey! Harper!"_

_Ice shot through my veins and my stomach hit the floor as Harper looked up from her book and in our direction as Charlie waved. Suddenly, it made sense why he had looked familiar to me. And why Harper came to every pick-up game, even when she didn't really watch. _

_She got to her feet and jogged over to us and without so much as a beat, Charlie was making what he didn't realize were extremely unnecessary introductions. _

_"Harper, this is my friend Ashton. Ash, this is my little sister Harper." _

_"Twin." She corrected sounding exasperated._

_"Wait, you guys are twins?" I asked already seeing the nightmare that was about to unfold, but Charlie continued, blissfully unaware. _

_"Can't you tell?" he asked with a laugh, gesturing between the two of them and while it was obvious they weren't identical, they did look a lot alike. A lot more than the rest of the campers that were a part of the same cabin. Most of them were only half siblings. _

_"I didn't realize." I muttered._

_How was this happening? Just as I'd finally gotten the courage to talk to Harper, I'd made friends with her brother. Could the timing have been any worse…_

_"Is everything alright Ashton?" she asked hitting me with that mind melting gaze and like a deer in head lights, I froze. _

_"Y-yeah Bambi," I said without thinking. "Everything is fine."_

_And it was at that moment, that it felt as if the entire world had come to a crashing stop._

_Oh. My. Gods. _

_Did that just come out of my mouth? _

_"Bambi?" Harper asked, her eyebrows shooting up clearly unimpressed while Charlie gave me a confused look. _

_"Sorry." I lied inventing an excuse on the spot. I couldn't tell her the real reason the name had popped into my head, not in front of her brother. "I forgot your name. It was the first thing I could think of..." _

_Holy crap, everything was going from bad to worse. This was a disaster._

_'Just… just shut up.' I thought in panic. 'Don't say anything else and you might be able to fix this.'_

_"You're kidding, right?" Harper asked in disbelief, her expression clearly stating that this train wreck was going up in flames. I tried desperately to think of something, anything I could say to salvage the situation, but Charlie ruined any chance I had for recovery. _

_"Oh my gods, I totally see it." he said bursting out laughing. "Harper, even you have to admit you're socially awkward. Every time one of my friends starts to talk to you you freeze like a spooked deer." _

_'For the love of the gods man, please stop talking.' I thought but Charlie was still laughing and Harper looked extremely annoyed._

_"Well this has been fun." She said sarcastically. "See you around __**Ash**__." _

_The emphasis on the nickname her brother had called me was obvious, as was the indignation in her expression as she turned on her heel and stalked off. _

_I watched her go in horror, wondering if there would ever be a way I could possibly fix this._

_I couldn't believe what had just happened, and how quickly it had. An hour ago, things had been great between Harper and I, then her brother had come along unintentionally dropped a nuclear bomb on our interactions. Then again, seeing as he was her brother, maybe it hadn't been all that unintentional… _

_"That was a disaster." I muttered appalled but Charlie didn't seem fazed. _

_"Eh. Don't worry about it." he said with a shrug and clapping a hand on my shoulder. "Harper will calm down. She always does. She's just a little sensitive sometimes." _

_I wanted to point out that he hadn't seen the whole picture of everything that had just happened, and why it made sense why she was so annoyed, but I had the feeling admitting to a girl's brother you'd been flirting with her probably wasn't the best idea. Especially when he'd just called you his friend. _

_Either way, it seemed pretty clear that I'd lost my window of opportunity with Harper, but it was obvious her brother had liked me. Maybe I should just cut my losses now and be happy I found someone I got a long with today. Friendships were a lot easier to maintain than a relationship with someone you might be interested in dating anyways. And besides, if I was friends with Charlie, Harper would be around. I might get the chance to explain…_

_"She probably thought you were cute and was embarrassed or something." Charlie continued and I looked at him a little uncertain. _

_Was he serious? He had to be joking. No one could be this oblivious… could they?_

_"She'll get over it." _

_"I hope so." I muttered disappointed, watching her disappear among the campers moving towards their next activity. _

_"She will." He said easily. "She usually doesn't stay mad for too long. Unless you ruin one of her books. This one time, I was drinking soda on a road trip…"_

_I tuned out Charlie's story about destroying his sister's property, wondering if I'd made the right choice staying with him and not going after her. _

_Maybe, if I could get a moment alone with her, I could explain. If I could just have a second with Harper, away from Charlie…_

My eyes snapped open and for a moment, I was confused, wondering where I was and why I was surrounded by the contents of what looked like a small, dimly lit museum, when I realized I wasn't alone.

I looked down at the weight on my shoulder to see Harper, a book open on the ground next to her, the light clipped to the cover.

She'd propped her bag against mine and it looked as if she'd using it as a head rest as she read, but it was clear she'd fallen asleep. She was on her side, clutching my arm as if it was a pillow.

I grinned and carefully extricated myself from Harper's grip, then sat up, wondering how long I'd been asleep and why I'd woken up, but just as I was about to check my phone for the time when a soft scuffling noise caused me to freeze.

It was coming from the far end of the room, where the shadows were far too strong for Harper's little book light to combat.

"-can't find anything." A rough voice said sounding distressed. "Moving the scrolls, messing up a perfectly good system."

As silently as possible, I reached for my bow while getting as close to Harper as I could and whispered.

"Harper."

Her eyes flew open, and I covered her mouth with my hand.

"Don't say anything." I whispered.

She looked surprised, but nodded, and I saw the realization in her eyes as I lifted my hand from her and she heard the muttering.

"Years, years I had this place in order. Perfectly in order. What would Eugene say if he saw our treasures so out of place?"

The question ended on somewhat of a wail, and I was sure my expression matched Harper's as the voice continued to fret.

"So much work to do, so much to prepare for opening day."

A tall figure slithered out from behind a stack of crates it looked as if Harper had been making her way through. The woman was tall, scaly and green with long dark hair falling down her back. She wore an open, over sized button up, that's blue looked as if it had faded over the years, but it wasn't long enough to hide the fact that from the waist down, her body split into the tails of two serpents rather than legs.

"Oh this is terrible, just terrible." She fretted. "Where do I start? With the pottery or the bronze?"

She had dark eyes that were darting anxiously from behind thick round glasses, that magnified them to almost cartoonish proportions.

I felt my mouth fall open slightly as the dracaena continued to rifle through boxes, as if she was unaware of Harper and I completely.

"Oh no, oh Gods."

The monster ran her fingers through her hair as if she were on the edge of having a nervous breakdown.

I glanced at Harper, wondering if I was going crazy or she was seeing what I was, but Harper wasn't looking at me. Before I could stop her, she took a hesitant step towards the monster.

"Are… are you ok?" she asked uncertainly and the monster spared her a glance before looking back at the piles of stuff.

"The demigods are awake." She muttered to herself reaching out as if to straighten a helmet in one of the boxes before snatching her arm back as if it might burn her. "Did they mess with my system? Maybe I should start organizing by era. No, by the date it entered the collection. No…"

Harper glanced back me alarmed, but I shrugged having no explanation for the behavior of the monster before us. She was a dracaena, one the monsters that formed the core of Titan's Army's infantry, a warrior. Yet this one seemed to be a nervous wreck.

"Oh what would Eugene say?" she continued glancing warily at Harper again before continuing to mutter. "Maybe these demigods will leave me be like the others. Go through the door and not come back. I warned them. I warned them not to go. The Library is not safe. They will not come back like Eugene."

"The library?" I asked feeling a jolt of shock go through me as the creature slithered back and forth anxiously, as if in some monstrous parody of pacing. "Have you been there? Can you take us from here?"

The dracaena nodded quickly, wringing her hands as her eyes flitted from artifact, to artifact, the back to us.

"What do you mean the door?" Harper asked frowning. She didn't seem to be feeling the same surge of excitement I had at the mention of the library. She looked worried.

"The door." the monster continued gesturing behind us as if we were being obtuse. "The entrance. Many have tried. None come back. Just like poor Eugene. None but the Hermes boy."

The Hermes boy?

"James." I said glancing at Harper who nodded ever so slightly before turning back to the dracaena.

"What's your name?" she asked and the monster looked at her uncertainly, before going back to the boxes as if she hoped that by ignoring Harper, she'd go away.

Harper didn't give up.

"Eugene, he was you friend wasn't he? Eugene Hartfield?"

"You… you know Eugene?" the dracaena asked hesitantly, and while the anxiety was still plain in her tone, there was a twinge of hope in it as well.

"No." Harper said gently. "But I know about him, who he was. What he was trying to do." She paused for a moment, clearly choosing her words carefully before she continued. "He was trying to find the library. Wasn't he?"

"Many have tried." The monster continued shaking her head in agitation. "Some find it, some do not. None come back. I tried to warn him. I told him it wasn't safe. But he wouldn't listen…"

"What's your name?" Harper asked, obviously trying to relax the creature, but she looked stumped at the question.

"My name?" she asked uncertainly, as if she wasn't sure if she understood.

"Yeah." Harper said with an encouraging nod. "I'm Harper, and this is my friend, Ashton. Who are you?"

"Who am I?" the monster asked quietly, as is more to herself than anyone else. "I have many names. The others in the army, under Kronos, they called me many things. Mean things." She winced at the memory, as if it were painful and looked at her hands, the fingers of which had knitted together. "Not Eugene though. He was always nice…"

"What did Eugene call you?" Harper pressed, clearly determined to get some sort of information out of her.

"Eugene?" she asked uncertainly. "He-He called me Lily."

I frowned at this, almost certain I'd never seen something that looked less like a Lily, but Harper didn't miss a beat.

"Could we call you that?" she asked politely and after a moment's hesitation, the dracaena nodded.

"Thank you." Harper said with a smile. "I'm sorry we went through your things Lily. I didn't realize there was anyone that lived here. We were looking for something important."

"Important?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"Very important." Harper agreed. "If I help you put things back in their proper place, do you think you could help us find it?"

"Y-yes." Lily said and at the suggestion of her things being put in their place, she looked a little less nervous. Even a bit cheerful. "Yes. I can help."

The next half an hour was spent with me watching Lily and Harper restore the room to whatever strange organization system Lily seemed devoted to, all while Harper, questioned Lily about the building and what she knew, patiently dealing with the bouts of anxiety Lily seemed to have when even the smallest artifact was nudged out of place.

As it turned out, Lily _had_ been a part of the Titan army, but had been abandoned after a battle thousands of years ago due to her poor vision. She spent centuries stumbling around the mortal realm, half blind, running from other monsters and demigods until she ran into Eugene. He'd been terrified of her at first, but given her his glasses when he realized she couldn't see.

He'd been fascinated by her, and the fact that she'd been a part of the world that was even more ancient than the Gods. In fact, it was partly due to her and her confirmation that the Cordrian Library had existed, at least at one point, that had inspired his attempt to revitalize the idea in the modern era.

"He always hoped to find it." she continued as she and Harper placed the last few books on their proper shelves. "Or what was left of it. No one is sure what has happened to it at this point. That's why he moved us here. To the door way."

"And that leads to the library?" I asked glancing at the door skeptically.

It was open now, and still, there was nothing behind it but solid wall.

"Sometimes." Lily said with a shrug. "But sometimes not. Sometimes it goes anywhere, other times it goes nowhere."

I glanced at Harper, and eyebrow raised, but it seemed to mean something to her.

"And you friend Eugene went through it?" Harper asked quietly and Lily nodded a little sadly.

"I warned him he would not come back."

"But James." I said with a frown. "He does come back?"

"Sometimes." She said with a hesitant nod. "Sometimes he does not. Sometimes it's weeks before I see him. Sometimes it's days. But unlike the others, he was not lost."

"Why?" I asked feeling my brow furrow, and while Harper shot me a warning look, Lily suddenly looked a bit nervous again.

She glanced between Harper and I for a moment, before her fingers trembling, she reached into the pocket of her shirt.

Instinctively, I reached for my weapon but the expression Harper gave me had me freeze.

"The Hermes boy." Lily said as she pulled a small rectangular card made of yellowing parchment. On it, in faded ink, was the ancient Greek omega symbol. "He has one. Eugene did not. When he gave it to me, I thought I could go through the door, to find Eugene but-"

She didn't finish her sentence. Her lip quivered, and tears misted her eyes from behind her glasses.

"You were afraid." Harper said sympathetically, putting a hand on the dracaena's shoulder.

"I didn't want to get lost like Eugene." Lily practically wailed. "I wanted to help him, I wanted to find him, but he told me to wait. He said I needed to stay, to protect our things. And if I didn't come back, no one would be here to keep them in order."

Harper gave me a hopeless look, clearly at a loss for what to do next. It was obvious she felt sorry for Lily, but something the monster had said stuck out to me.

"What do you mean he gave it to you?" I asked nodding towards the card Lily had been holding. "Do you mean James?"

"The Hermes boy never told me his name." she said shaking his head. "Just that he would try to help me."

A look of shock crossed over Harper's face, one that I was sure mirrored my own.

"He offered to help you?" I asked uncertainly.

She nodded.

"Unlike the others, he had less trouble navigating the doors."

A surge of anxiety went through me and when I glanced at Harper, I knew she was thinking along the same lines as I was. So James had known more about the library than he was letting on. Harper was right, he'd probably even been to it before. But this didn't make any sense. Why had James offered to help Lily find her friend if he too had been looking for a way to access the library? You'd think James would be happy he was out of the way.

We stood there for a moment, Harper comforting the crying dracaena while I reflected on what might possibly be the strangest situation I'd ever been in. I didn't think I'd ever seen a monster cry before, much less, crying to a demigod who was doing their best to make them feel better.

"Lily." Harper said gently after the tears had started to slow. "I know you're sad about your friend, and I'm sorry to have to ask this, but we need your help."

"My help?" Lily repeated uncertainly, as if the concept was one she couldn't grasp.

"Yes." Harper encouraged her tone comforting. "Eugene was trying to reopen the library, wasn't he? He wanted to find it and make it so everyone could use it safely?"

Lily nodded.

"Well, we're trying to find it too." Harper continued. "And we think Eugene might have had something that could help make it safer for everyone. So that when people tried to visit it, they won't get lost. Do you have an idea of what that might be?"

Lily blinked for a moment, her wide eyes anxious behind her glasses, as if she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, then without warning, she darted for the stairs.

"Wait-" Harper said in alarm, reaching out after the dracaena, but it was far too late.

Her scaly tale whipped out of sight as she hurtled through the door to the main level, and Harper looked at me, bewildered.

"What was that about?" she asked, clearly startled by Lily's sudden change in behavior.

"I'm not sure." I said frowning, but readying my bow nonetheless. "Maybe we should get out of here. She might be going for reinforcements."

But before Harper could respond, Lily was already scrambling back down the basement stairs, muttering quickly to herself. Her words more rapid than they'd been before.

"Eugene said someone might ask. Perhaps now is the time." She debated in an undertone. "He would have wanted me to. He said to it might happen one day."

She was carrying a small box, about the size of a dictionary and was elaborately decorated with jewels and patterns forged into the metal work.

The glow from Harper's book light reflected off the silver as Lily stepped closer, and she rested the box on a crate between Harper and herself.

"Eugene told me that someone might ask about this someday. He said there might be others, and to protect it if he didn't come back."

Her voice trembled a little as she said it, and she'd gone back to wringing her hands together, but she didn't look as upset as she did before.

"What's in it?" I asked uncertainly.

"I don't know." She said shrugging and I felt a pang of shock go through me.

"You never opened it?" I asked incredulously.

"He didn't tell me to open it." she said as if the thought had never even occurred to her. "Just to watch over it while he was gone."

I wasn't sure if I trusted this explanation, but Harper was already removing the lid to the box.

Cushioned inside the velvet lining was what looked like an ancient scroll that despite it's age, seemed to be almost perfectly preserved.

Careful so as not to tear the wafer-thin parchment, Harper opened the scroll and started to read.

Her brow furrowed.

"What-" she started, but suddenly, out seemingly out of nowhere, many things happened at once.

The text on the scroll lit up, burning a bright and fiery gold, casting a warm illumination over the room, it's color catching in her eyes. It's brilliance was matched in the doorway across the room, where what had once been nothing but stone, was now a shimmering haze of bronze and gold.

"You must go!" Lily said suddenly, pushing Harper towards the door.

"But-" Harper protested, trying dig in her heals, but despite Lily's timid nature, there was a reason the dracaena had been used in the Titan army.

"Now!" she insisted, using her strength to continue to rush Harper towards the door. "Before it seals itself. Take this."

She thrust something into Harper's hand which I didn't see.

Lily all but threw our book bags at me as she herded us towards he door.

"See to it your friend remains safe Son of Apollo." She said her eyes darting towards me and actually seeing me for what felt like the first time since she'd shuffled into the basement, fretting about her artifacts. They then moved to Harper. "As for you Daughter of Athena, find Eugene for me. If you can."

Then, without warning, she shoved Harper through towards the door.

Harper cried out in shock just as I jumped after her, my hand closing around her wrist as the room around us shimmered out of existence, everything turning to gold, and we were swallowed by the light.


	19. Chapter 19

Hi everyone, I know it's been way too long since I updated. I had a lot going on and had to take a step back from a lot of things. Unfortunately writing was one of them while I was getting a lot of other things back together. But I saw the review asking for an update so I finally got back behind they keyboard and finished this chapter. I realize that breaks between posts can be frustrating and I apologize for it. I'm trying to really sit down over the holidays and get a lot more written up since I'll have some more free time coming up over them. As always, thanks for the patience and kind reviews. I've also been working on ideas for another story which is a bit different for me character wise, but I'll try to make sure this one gets worked on as well.

~Secrethalfblood

Hpov

Being pushed through the door, felt like being thrown into a turbulent river, only to be snatched by its current, and thrown in any direction it felt determined to take me.

I was buffeted back and forth, unable to find which way was up in the chaotic world of gold, trying to find Ashton from his grip on my wrist. It was as solid as iron, clearly trying to keep us from being separated, but not even that was enough to prevent me from hurtling past him as whatever we'd just been in, dumped us unceremoniously out into darkness.

Throwing out my hands on instinct, I braced myself for the impact, and hit the ground hard. A jolt went through me as I hit the dirt, which soon transformed into a vibrating wave of pain that spread throughout my body. Coughing, I tried to catch my breath only to hack further as I inhaled all the dirt and dust that had been stirred from me slamming into the ground at high speed.

At some point, I became aware of a stinging on my palm and I realize I must have cut it on one of the many rocks I'd landed on. Groaning, I sat up and looked down to inspect the injury when I realized I was holding something.

"What the…" I started confused, but cut myself off as I heard Ashton let out a similar groan of pain not too far from my right.

There wasn't much light, but as I inspected the small grubby object, I caught the symbol on the parchment and realized what it must have been. It was the card Lily had shown us. The one she'd claimed James had given her.

This must have been what she'd forced into my hand before pushing me through the door.

Why had she given it to me?

I was about to look up and ask Ashton what he thought when suddenly, the card started to glow.

I felt my eyes go wide as the paper seemed to disintegrate in my hands, crumbling into luminous dust that faded as it disappeared. What was left behind was much more modern. It was black and heavy, about the size and weight of a metal credit card, with the ink of the omega symbol replaced by what was very clearly, celestial bronze. It glowed softly in the dimness of what I now realized must have been a cave around us.

"Harper?" Ashton asked sounding panicked as he sat up, frantically searching the area before his eyes landed on me. "What happened?"

His eyes were wide as the landed on my hand and I shrugged, just as baffled as he was as to what had just taken place.

"Weird right?" I asked turning the card over to inspect it. "I have no idea."

He scrambled over to me to, what I had assumed, take a look at what was clearly a magical object, but instead, he snatched it out of my hand and took it between his.

"You're bleeding."

"What?" I asked momentarily confused, and a little annoyed he'd taken the card before I could figure out what was going on with it, then spotting the red trails that were leading from my palm to my wrist and down to my forearm. "Oh."

I'd forgotten about that.

"It's just a scratch." I said shrugging, taking the card back with my free hand and trying to pull away. "No big deal."

He didn't let go.

"It could get infected." He protested, shaking his head and looking around the cave uncertainly, his eyes caught on what looked to be lichen growing on the stone walls. "I should-"

"It'll be fine Ashton." I said in exasperation.

"But-"

"Charlie isn't here right now Ash." I said managing to extricate myself from him and reach for the medical kit in my bag. I opened it, pulling out a few alcohol wipes and some bandages. "You don't have drop everything in a panic just because I get a hangnail."

I'd meant this as a joke, but Ashton clearly didn't find it funny. Something flashed across his expression and I wasn't sure if it was hurt or anxiety at the fact I wouldn't let him heal the injury, but it was gone before I could identify it completely. All I knew was that it had something to do with pain.

"Ash, are you-" I started uncertainly, but he cut me off.

"What is this anyways?" he asked taking the card from me, then looking around at the stone walls. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure." I admitted, uncertain if I should ask what was on his mind, but deciding against it. Following his lead, I scanned our surroundings while bandaging the cut.

Now that my eyes had adjusted to the light, I saw it wasn't actually that dark. It had only seemed so compared to the brightness that had surrounded us after Lily had thrown me through the door.

The cave looked to be a shallow one, more of a small room than anything, that appeared as if it had been hollowed either by nature or by man a while ago. Not too far off looked to be the exit judging by the bright light pouring in from around the corner.

"We should get going." Ashton said as I repacked my medical kit, his eyes fixed on the light. "Figure out where we are."

He stood and offered me a hand as usual. I took it automatically, wincing as I realized I'd reached with the bandaged one out of habit, but was surprised that after helping me to my feet, he didn't let go.

Instead, his fingers threaded through mine as we made our way towards the cave exit, squinting as we stepped into what was clearly early afternoon sunlight, and then froze.

"Harper?" Ashton asked, hardly aware of the mortals skirting around us, giving the dusty and injured teenagers alarmed looks, as we stared, open mouthed at the scene in front of us.

"Yeah?" I responded, feeling my eyes go a little wide at the pale square buildings, and their tiled roofs.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Ashton asked quietly as a cool, familiar breeze rolled over me. It smelled of salt water and was carried with it the weight of something ancient and important. The kind of significance only one body of water could produce in any demigod, though I knew I'd never seen it before.

The Mediterranean.

"Yes."

"Are we where I think we are? I mean, did we...?"

"Yes." I said softly, hearing the incredulity in my own tone, but at the same time, knowing it was true. Even if I hadn't seen a million pictures of this place, hadn't read about it in hundreds of books, I would have known. I could feel it in my core, in the very essence of the half of me that would always, on some level, reject my mortal life. Because thanks to my mother, the part of me that was meant to live in the mythological world, would always recognize this place. Always, in some part, think of it as home.

We were in Athens.

Apov

Harper and I had ended up in Greece. As to _how_ we got here, I couldn't tell you. All I knew was that a short-sighted dracaena had chucked her through a magical door, and then we'd stumbled out of what Harper had quickly determined as was one of the cave sanctuaries of the Acropolis of all places.

I watched from a table outside a small deli, as pedestrians hurried along the sides of narrow streets, ducking in and out of shops, and ignoring angry drivers that honked at them as they darted across the road without any apparent regard for oncoming traffic.

It was a beautiful day, and despite how beat up we must have looked to the people around us, that couldn't seem to help but stare, I didn't have it in myself not to enjoy it. The weather was perfect, the city was beautiful, and if I ignored the throbbing bruise on my shoulder, from being slammed into a stone wall earlier, I could almost forget the fact that we were on a highly dangerous mission during which we found ourselves in the birthplace of so many legendary monsters.

It occurred to me as I glanced at her, this was probably the most time I'd ever spent with Harper, well, without Charlie around. It was a weird situation, but not a bad one, and I reflected on this as I watched her eyes dart across a pamphlet she'd grabbed on our hike down from Mount Lycabettus into the main part of the city.

She seemed to be more relaxed without her brother here, or maybe it was me. Usually, when Charlie was with us, the feeling of being comfortable around her was quickly accompanied by a surge of anxiety about what he might think if he noticed. What anyone might think or tell him if they did.

But that was gone now, and honestly, I hadn't realized how much of a weight on my shoulders it had been.

It was weird in a way, but nice. I could look at her as often as I wanted, for as long as I wanted, and not have to worry what anyone might think about it. I didn't feel the need to come up with a justification for being around her. To constantly explain why we'd become such good friends.

I mean it was ridiculous really, that I felt that way. She was Charlie's sister after all and we'd known each other for years. It was natural we'd be friends.

'But maybe that wasn't what had been about.' I thought vaguely, as she turned the paper over and continued to read.

Maybe it had been more to convince people that we were just friends.

When I'd first met the twins, I usually channeled the energy in to teasing her, which, looking back, was probably why I used to annoy her so much. Eventually, I'd managed to suppress it, learn to not say anything or do anything that could possibly be misconstrued but I found that anxiety had been coming back over the past few weeks.

The feeling had been an unwelcome one.

I'd gotten so good at ignoring that little voice in the back of my mind that told me putting an arm around her shoulder might not be the best idea, not to hold her too long if she'd gone in for a hug, that I'd sort of convinced myself that it wasn't there.

I found other reasons for acting the way I did around her. Everyone knew I had a girlfriend, sort of, so I couldn't be caught smiling or looking at her for too long. That they might get the wrong idea, the wrong impression that maybe Harper and I were something other than friends. I didn't want rumors about us spreading, not because there might be some truth in it, but it would bother Charlie.

I'd even convinced myself partly, that they were true, but it had only been if I didn't think too hard about it.

'Or maybe you just don't want to lie to yourself anymore.' A softer, but more honest part of me cut in, interrupting my thoughts, and while my default mindset would be to dispute this, I didn't seem to have it in me at the moment.

Was it even worth contradicting at this point?

I glanced at her again, only to notice she'd bitten her lip like she often did when she was really concentrating on something. It was a habit I knew she was unaware of and I couldn't completely suppress a smile.

Probably not.

"Gods," she muttered, letting out an irritated groan and for a moment I'd thought she'd noticed me watching her, but then I noticed that once again, her phone was vibrating on the table. "If Charlie calls me one more time, I'm going to ditch this thing in the nearest trash can."

She sent the call to voicemail and put it on the table, only to see the screen light up with another call.

"Why isn't he harassing you?" she asked with a frown, glancing at my bag where my phone was stored in a side pocket.

"He probably is." I said with a shrug. "But my plan doesn't cover overseas. I'm sure I'll get about a million texts and messages the second I connect to wifi."

"Figures." She said canceling the call again, turning her phone on silent, then returning to the pamphlet.

She seemed to have a much better idea of what was going on than I did as to how we ended up here. She'd mentioned words like 'interrealm' and 'dominions' that I'd heard her use before, but sort of went over my head. As to why we were here, or what was our next move, I had even less of a clue. I knew better than to bother her about, however, at least at the moment. As much as I wanted to help, I knew I would only end up disrupting her concentration.

Instead, I waited until I heard our order called from inside the shop, and when I returned, I saw she'd finished with the pamphlet and was staring at what I first thought was a credit card, but then realized was what she'd been looking at earlier when we first stumbled into Athens.

She didn't mention the food, and part of me wondered if she'd even noticed it, but instead look up at me as if debating what she wanted to say.

"I think it's a library card." She said a little unexpectedly, and I felt a confused expression cross my features.

"What?"

"This," she said holding the card up between two fingers for me to inspect.

I felt myself frown and took a bite of my sandwich before responding.

"Isn't the library ancient though? Like _ancient_, ancient?" I asked a little uncertainly. "Were library cards even a thing back then?"

"No." she said shaking her head. "The model for a library card as we would know it today didn't turn up until the nineteen thirties. Don't ask me how I know that," she added, forestalling my question when she saw me starting to smirk a little. "But it's not exactly like the mythological world doesn't adapt to the modern one."

"True." I conceded she continued to inspect the object. I'd been chased by too many monsters that had worked out the most basic idea of how to drive a car to deny that.

"And it could explain why James seems to have had more success of traveling between places through the interrealm than I've ever heard of before. Maybe it's more willing to work with someone the library might recognize."

"And occasionally chuck them out in Olympus." I pointed out and she sighed, tucking the card into her back pocket.

"Apparently."

She then glanced down and blinked, apparently only now registering there was food in front of her.

"Oh." She said glancing at my sandwich which I was nearly half way through. "Thanks."

"No problem Bambs." I said grinning and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to go wash my hands."

"Alright." I said, feeling my eyes linger on the bandage on her palm for a fraction of a second, before glancing back up at her.

I watched as she stepped back into the shop, then let my gaze wander over the street as I continued to eat, taking in the everyday activity of people living their lives in an unfamiliar city.

It snagged on a particular face in the crowd and for a split second, I wondered why, but then I realized. I recognized the glasses, I would have known them anywhere, but the color behind them were not the familiar shade of green I'd come to expect.

James's eyes went wide, and without conscious thought I dove for my bow, already reaching for an arrow…

Suddenly, my vision was obscured by a shimmering image, an Iris message.

I ignored it for a moment, not bothering to deny the call still frantically looking for James's face among the crowd, but it was useless. The split second I'd been distracted was all he'd needed. He was gone.

The call had started to connect and judging by Harper's call history, I figured I knew who would be on the other end, but I was surprised.

"Annie?" I asked wondering what on earth was going on, but as her face shimmered into view, shifting between prismatic shades, almost at once I heard the yelling.

"Where the hell are they? I swear to Gods when I get my hands on him-"

"Charlie, stop." Annie said looking over shoulder, her tone calm but firm, before turning back to face me her eyes concerned. "Ashton, are you with Harper?"

"Yeah." I said figuring there wasn't much point in denying the fact and I heard something loud in the background. It sounded like Charlie had thrown something.

"I'm going to kill him." He muttered darkly then raised his voice to be certain I could hear him. "Ashton, if you don't tell me where you are… if you don't bring my sister back RIGHT. NOW-"

"You're not helping." Annie snapped and I was surprised at how angry she sounded at Charlie, I didn't think I'd ever heard her speak to him that way before.

She turned back to me.

"Ash, you have to tell us where you are. Chiron's lost two campers, everyone's _freaking out_."

"Why?" I asked in surprise and she looked as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Why? No one knew when you two left or why you were gone. Neither of you are answering your phones or left a note. Half of her siblings were convinced Zeus got a hold of her. Charlie about had a break down he was so scared."

"I," I started uncertainly. I hadn't thought of leaving a note, at the time Harper had convinced we needed to leave so quickly I hadn't thought about it. It seemed so obvious what we were doing, I didn't expect people to react like this. To be so scared. "I didn't think-"

"Of course, you didn't." Charlie snapped and suddenly, he was in view. "You never did when it came to Harper. I told you she could always get you to do what she wanted. I warned you! But you didn't listen."

I thought back to what Charlie had told me before Harper and I had left. About the prophecy that involved Harper, and why he'd never told her about it. Or me.

"That was a warning?" I asked indignant, but it quickly eclipsed by anger. "What kind of insane logic is that?"

He didn't seem to hear.

"I trusted you around my sister." He said furiously. "I told you everything. I thought you were my friend."

"Charlie-" I said incredulously, hardly able to believe what he was saying.

"But you were just so thrilled to get any chance to run off with her, weren't you?" He spat viciously. "Did you even wait five minutes before you decided to take everything that I told you and throw it back on me?"

I felt the weight of his words like a physical blow. Shock radiated from my chest through my body, and while I knew I should have been apologizing, trying to fix things with my friend, the shock had given way to fury.

I'd seen Charlie's anger before, especially when it was directed at someone who he thought was a danger to his sister in any sense of the form, but it had never been directed at me.

I knew he'd be upset, I knew deep down, that he probably wouldn't be able to overlook this. That he would always pick his sister's safety over me, but still… I was his best friend. Didn't that matter?

He'd always trusted me, always given me the benefit of the doubt. At least, I thought he did. Now… now he was glaring at me as if I was a stranger, someone that he didn't like, no, hated. Like he'd never really trusted me at all.

It hurt.

A sick feeling spread through me, one that was sharp and cold, like needles of ice crystalizing within me and shattering all at once.

How could he say this? After all the time I'd spent with him and his family, all the missions and quests, practices and tournaments, putting up with his insane paranoia about his sister and all the problems it go us into, was this how he treated his best friend?

If what I'd done had done had put a crack the foundation of our friendship, what he was doing now was taking a sledgehammer to it. Gods was this what it was like for Harper? Having to deal with this all the time? How did she put up with it?

"You're being ridiculous." I said my voice stiff, another flash of anger going through me as part of what he'd said registered with me. "No, in fact, you're being crazy. Harper didn't make me do anything. She told me she was leaving, that she had to leave without you finding out, and I could come if I wanted. There was no scheme or plot or crazy plan on my part. She didn't trick me into anything. And seeing how you're reacting," I gestured towards him through the message. "It was the right thing to do. She's not a little kid Charlie. And if it were up to you. You'd keep pretending she was up until Olympus was knocking at the camp's door." I couldn't keep the bitterness out of my tone. So much of this was his fault. "You can't keep hiding from this Charlie. You have to accept that this is something you can't protect her from."

I expected Charlie to explode at this, but he didn't. Instead, he went pale, but that was the only emotion he showed. Everything else of his expression was startlingly blank.

Alarmed, I looked at Annie who I somewhat expected to be on my side. She'd always been a pretty reasonable person and was constantly trying to rein in Charlie's protectiveness of Harper, but to my surprise, instead of agreeing with me, she shook her head.

"Ash..." She started hopelessly, sounding almost sad, but Charlie cut her off.

"Don't bother Annie." he said coldly. "He's made his choice. He's not going to bring her back."

He was glaring at me, with the sort of icy hatred I'd seen only on the worst occasions of his temper, and never thought I would experience myself.

"I can't believe I trusted you." He said shaking his head in disgust. "It was bad enough when I thought this was all centered around James, but you."

He let out a bitter laugh.

"You were my friend." He continued, as if he could hardly believe the words now, and I couldn't help but notice the past tense of the word. "Closer than my friend, you were like my brother. And even when I realized the most dangerous person in the world to my sister was probably you, I _still _trusted you." There was disbelief in his tone as well as anger, but whether it was for me or for himself, I wasn't sure. "Any anxiety I had I pushed it away. Told myself you of all people would never do something like that, that if you ever felt something, you were the one person in the world I could trust not to act on it. Or if you did, you'd at least have the decency to tell me to my face."

"Charlie," I said indignantly. "I have no idea what you're talking about. No one planned any of this. I'm not trying to get between you and Harper." I couldn't believe I was having to explain this. Had he lost his mind? "I just came her to help her, something you _clearly_ aren't capable of doing right now." He sounded paranoid, like, actually crazy. "You're not Harper's keeper. You don't get to control her life."

'Or mine.' A voice thought quietly in the back of my mind, but I didn't act on the impulse to say it.

"No." Charlie spat furiously. "But I was your best friend. I thought that would have meant something to you."

There was a bitterness in his voice but also pain. Pain and regret.

"I should have trusted my instincts. I should have never let you near her." He said and I knew despite everything, the only person he was less likely to forgive for this situation other than me, was himself. "If something happens to her, it's your fault."

His face then vanished off the message, and I was left with Annie, who looked over her shoulder, I guess to watch Charlie as he stormed off. When she turned back, her face look troubled.

"What in Olympus is wrong with him?" I asked incensed. "I knew he'd be upset that she was gone, but he can't honestly believe any of that."

He was acting like I kidnapped his sister. Like I'd been planning it for years.

"Why wouldn't he Ash?" she asked, and I was surprised to hear a bit of edge in her voice.

She must have seen it in my expression because when she continued, it was gone, but I couldn't believe that Annie, one of the kindest people on the planet, could think something like this about me.

"He told me about the prophecy after you left. He's known almost his whole life that something like this might happen. That someone might-"

At this I cut her off.

"Yeah," I said in exasperation. "Someone, but not me. Charlie told you what it said right? You can't seriously think that the prophecy…"

But I let my sentence fade as I saw her expression however, as it was clear to me what she did think, and despite how crazy it seemed, I felt a twing of anxiety surge through me.

"Annie." I started trying not to sound frustrated, but unable to believe I had to go through this what must have been the thousandth time, with a daughter of Aphrodite no less. "You said he told you about the prophecy right? What it said? You out of everyone should know that it couldn't be me."

I let out a laugh of disbelief but it died. Her expression hadn't changed. She still looked so sad.

"C'mon Ash." She said softly, shaking her head. "Stop lying to yourself. There's no point in it anymore."

"You've got to be kidding me," I said incredulously, running my fingers through my hair, uncertain as to why my heart rate was increasing. It felt like something was closing in on me. "Annie, you can't really believe this. I'm not in love with Harper."

Did I like her when we first met, of course I did. In fact, was pretty sure everyone but Charlie had realized it, and maybe a part of me had never really gotten over it. I was willing to admit that. But love? No. No that was different.

Sure Harper was pretty and she was smart and kind but I'd had a girlfriend, I'd really liked Jasmine, I…

'Was never able to make it work out between the two of you.' A voice in the back of my mind said quietly.

Jasmine had never seemed to talk about Harper much, and while always wanting to meet and hang out with my friends, she'd never once tried me to get me to introduce her to Harper. Only now did it occur to me how strange that was. For Jasmine to want to avoid someone that had been such a huge part of my life.

She hadn't said why she hadn't wanted to get back together, just that she knew it didn't work between us. That that would never change. Was this why?

Maybe it was. But that was crazy wasn't it? I could admit it to myself at least, if not anyone else, that there had been a point where I'd liked Harper, well as more than a friend. Maybe multiple points. And I did love her, I didn't think anyone who could spend so much time with her and her family could have avoided it. But that didn't mean I was _in_ love. If I'd crossed that point, I of all people would have known… right?

I looked at Annie, stunned, and I could tell by her expression she knew exactly what was going through my mind. The war it was waging against itself for years, one that I'd only just become aware of, and that she'd known was there for far long than I had.

"Who are you trying to convince, Ash?" she asked quietly.

The call ended before I could give her a response, not that I had one ready.

I stared at where she'd been, not sure what to think and hardly seeing the street that was in front of me.

Suddenly, I remembered that I had seen James and looked around wildly, having totally forgotten him during the Iris message. But it was far too late. He'd disappeared before the call and it was even less likely that I'd be able to find him now.

"When did you do it?"

I jumped and turned in surprise to see Harper stepping out of the shop, a bottle of water in one hand and a bag of chips in the other grinning at me, looking a little amused.

The smile faded when she caught my expression.

"Are you ok?"

"What? Oh." I said realizing, as she glanced at it, I was still holding my bow. "Yeah, no I'm fine. I just, I thought I saw something."

"Monsters?" she asked in concern, glancing up and down the street but I shook my head and retook my seat, feeling my heart rate elevate as she sat across from mine.

"No. I don't know. I guess it was a trick of the light." I said distractedly, trying to keep my voice even as I remembered my conversation with Annie. Should I tell her who I thought I saw? He'd looked scared. "What were you saying?"

Her smile returned, though her tone was a little exasperated as she spoke.

"I asked when you did it."

"Did what?"

"This." She held out her palm for me to inspect, and I noticed the bandages were gone, as well as any trace of the cut that gone deep through the skin of her palm. But I had known it was gone for hours.

I thought back to the moment, helping Harper up and out of the cave, her fingers interlocked with mine.

"When do you think I did it?" I asked, somewhat to deflect having to answer.

She paused for a moment glancing at her palm and it seemed to dawn on her.

"So that's why you didn't let go." She said thoughtfully, and while I met her gaze for a moment, I looked away before saying

"No. It's not."

Annie's words, and the meaning behind them still on my mind.


End file.
